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HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 




WASHINGTON: PAST AND PRESENT. 



HISTORIC HOMES 



IN 



WASHINGTON 



ITS NOTED MEN AND WOMEN 



'Yr\MJ. MARY Si-'^ LOCKWOOD 
'I 



FULLY ILLUSTRA TED 



NEW YORK 

BELFORD COMPANY, PUBLISHERS 

18-22 East i8th Street 
[Publishers of Belford^s Magazine\ 



.L7q 



COPYRIGHT, 1889. 

MARY S. LOCKWOOD. 



Ansn'ia. 



\ ^■s^ 



CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER I. 

THE FIRST SETTLERS. 

Captain John Smith— The History of the Red Man in the Rotunda— The Century 
of the New Nation's Birth— Proclamation of President Washington — Selection 
of a Site for the Capital— Major L'Enfant's Plan !•! 

CHAPTER II, 

THE COTTAGE OF DAVID BURNS. 

The Compact— Oldest Home in Washington— Tom Moore's Room— Marcia Burns— 

The Van Ness Mansion— Ann Elbertine Van Ness — Arthur Middleton. . . 21 

CHAPTER III. 

DUDDINGTON MANOR. 

Mr. Pope's Patent— Daniel Carroll— Charles Carroll— Duddington Manor— Thomas 

Low— Married Miss Custis— The Bill for a United States Bank 28 

CHAPTER IV. 

HISTORIC HOMES OF LA FAYETTE SQUARE. 

The White House— John Adams, President— The new Capitol— John Cotton Smith's 
letter— The six Buildings— President Adams' Address— The President's House- 
Washington at the laying of the Corner-stone— Abigail Adams as Wife and 
Mother .2 

CHAPTER V. 

THE WHITE HOUSE DURING THE JEFFERSON AND MADISON ADMINISTRATIONS. 

The Wife and Daughter of President Jefferson— Marie's Marriage to Mr. Randolph 
—Mary's to Mr. Eppes— The first child born in the White House— Hamilton 
and Burr- Mr. Adams and Mr. Jefferson die July 4, 1826— The Capital a Wilder- 
ness—Madison declares War— The British enter Washington — Mrs. Madison at 
her Best— Saves Washington's Portrait and the State Papers— The White House 
in Ashes co 

CHAPTER VI. 
ADMINISTRATIONS OF JAMES MONROE AND JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 

The White House rebuilt— Mr. Monroe inaugurated President— The " Monroe 
Doctrine"— Henry Clay, the Magnificent— John C. Calhoun, Secretary of War 
-Thomas Benton as Senator— John Quincy Adams, Secretary of State— John 
McLane, Postmaster-General — William Wirt, Attorney-General — John Quincy 
Adams elected President — "Mrs. Adams' Ball "—The House elects the Presi- 
dent— Inaugurated President, March 4, 1825— La Fayette's Farewell Visit. . . 60 

CHAPTER VIL 

THE WHITE HOUSE DURING PRESIDENT JACKSON's ADMINISTRATION. 

Jackson's Inauguration — Jackson's Cabinet— "To the Victors belong the Spoils" 
— The Mrs. Eaton Imbroglio— Four Children born in the White House— Gen- 
eral Jackson, Godfather. ^g 



6 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

THE WHITE HOUSE DURING THE ADMINISTRATIONS OF MARTIN VAN BUREN 
AND WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 

Martin Van Buren's Inauguration — The Court of " Martin the First " — General 
Harrison nominated at Baltimore — Origin of the "Log Cabin" and "Hard 
Cider" Epithets— The "Log Cabins" Victorious— General Harrison inaugu- 
rated President 85 

CHAPTER IX. 

JOHN TYLER IN THE PRESIDENT'S HOUSE. 

Successor to General Harrison — President Tyler a charming Host — The British 
Minister — Authors of the Sketch Book and Pickwick Papers present — Mrs. 
Letitia Tyler's Death— Mrs. Letitia Semple, Lady of the White House — Presi- 
dent Tyler marries Miss Gardiner — President Tyler retires to Virginia. . . 04 

CHAPTER X. 

THE WHITE HOUSE DURING THE ADMINISTRATIONS OF JAMES K. POLK AND 
ZACHARY TAYLOR. 

Mexican War — Polk surrounded by Great Men — Death of John Quincy Adams — 
The last Levee of President Polk— Mrs. Polk's Portrait— " Old Rough and 
Ready" — Admission of California— Mr. Clay's " Compromise Bill" — Death of 
the President . 



104 



CHAPTER XI. 



MILLARD FILLMORE, FRANKLIN PIERCE AND JAMES BUCHANAN IN THE 

WHITE HOUSE. 

Millard Fillmore sworn in as President — Signs the Fugitive Slave Bill — Address of 
Daniel Webster — Henry Clay's Death — Inauguration of Franklin Pierce — The 
Shadowy Days of President Buchanan's Administration — Lovely Harriet Lane 
— Visit of the Prince of Wales— Letter from Queen Victoria — Buchanan's 
Administration ends in Confusion and Dismay. 112 

CHAPTER XII. 

ABRAHAM LINCOLN, ANDREW JOHNSON, AND ULYSSES GRANT, PRESIDENTS. 

A Man tried as by Fire— His Second Inaugural— The Nation's Calamity— Mrs. Lin- 
coln's Ambition— Death of the beautiful Boy, Willie— Andrew Johnson— 
Madame Le Vert— General Ulysses Grant, President -General Grant's Cabinet- 
Inaugural Ball— Kitchen Cabinet— President and Mrs. Grant— General Babcock 
—Second Inaugural— Nellie Grant's Wedding— General Grant's reluctant Con- 
sent— A Sorrowing Nation 121 

CHAPTER XIII. 

RUTHERFORD B. HAYES, JAMES A. GARFIELD, CHESTER A. ARTHUR, AND 
GROVER CLEVELAND, PRESIDENTS. 

Exciting Canvass— Electoral Commission— Mrs. Lucy Webb Hayes— Mr. and Mrs. 
Hayes leave the White House— Mr. Garfield's Inaugural— The President's 
Mother— Thurman and Hamlin— General Winfield Scott Hancock— Gallant Phil 
Sheridan— The first President's Mother in the White House— Mr. Garfield's 
Cabinet— The Oath of Office taken upon the Death of the President— Mr. 
Arthur's Wife— The President's last official Act ; General Grant put on the 
Retired List— President Arthur died in Lexington Avenue, New York— Mr. Cleveland 
inaugurat-d President — Thomas Francis Bayard— Daniel Manning— Mrs. Manning 
—Mr. William C. Kndicott— Augustus H. Garland— William Freeman Vilas— William 
C. Whitney— Secretary Lamar— President Cleveland's Marriage— Rose Ellzabctli 
Cleveland— Frances Folsom— Mrs. Cleveland's Popularity 135 



CONTENTS. 7 

CHAPTER XIV. 

BENJAMIN HARRISON, PRESIDENT. 

Mrs. Harrison found a City fair to look upon— The President— James G. Blaine, 
Secretary of State — William Windom, Secretary of the Treasury— Redfield 
Proctor, Secretary of War— Benjamin Tracy. Secretary of the Navy— John 
Wanamaker, Postmaster-General — John W. Noble, Secretary of the Interior — 
William Henry Harrison Miller, Attorney-General— Jeremiah M. Rusk, Secre- 
tary of Agriculture — President Harrison, as he is to his People \Af^ 

CHAPTER XV. 

THE HOMES OF LA FAYETTE SQUARE ; GENERAL SICKLES, COMMODORE DE- 
CATUR, DOLLY MADISON, OGLE TAYLOE, WILLIAM H. SEWARD. 

The White House the first built on the Square — St. John's Church— Decatur's 
Life— Edward Livingrston— Cora Livingston— Charles Vaughan — Baron Hyde 
de Neuville and the King Brothers— Succeeded by William Appleton of Boston 
— Gen. Edward F. Beale— The Dan Sickles Home— Smith Thompson, South- 
ard, and Woodbury— Schuyler Colfa.x- Home of Dolly Madison— Headquar- 
ters of General McCIellan— President William Henry Harrison's last Visit- 
Shooting of Philip Barton Key— Commodore Rodgers— William H. Seward 
—General and Mrs. Belknap— James G. Blaine— La Fayette Square. . . • I ■;'? 

CHAPTER XVI. 

THE HOMES OF CHARLES SUMNER, W. W. CORCORAN AND REVERDY JOHNSON. 

Sumner's Classic Home— Ben. Perley Poore, his Clerk— The Home of Corcoran— 
Sir Frederic Bruce— Home of John Slidell— Gideon Welles, Secretary of the 
Navy — Home of Reverdy Johnson. -16? 

CHAPTER XVn. 

THE HOMES OF DANIEL WEBSTER, GEORGE BANCROFT, JOHN HAY, THOMAS 
RITCHIE, MONTGOMERY BLAIR, AND ADMIRAL PORTER. 

Last Home of Webster— Grace Fletcher— Calhoun's Death— Nomination of General 
Scott— Mr. Webster's Death— George Bancroft— John Hay's Home— The 
National T^-ibune — The Slidell House— The Blair Mansion— John T. Mason— 
The Home of Thomas Ewing— Marriage of General W. T. Sherman— "Tom " 
Corwin in President Fillmore's Cabinet— Montgomerv Blair— Sir Frederic 
Bruce — Lord Napier — Lord Lyons— Admiral David D. Porter 173 

CHAPTER XVin. 

THE HOMES BEYOND THE POTOMAC — MOUNT VERNON, ABINGDON, ARLINGTON. 

The Tomb of Washington — Washington's " Birthnight "—Washington's last Minuet 
—Count de Rochambeau visits Mount Vernon— Ale.xandria and Christ Church 
— General Washington's Pew— The Legend of the beautiful Stranger— Andrew- 
Jackson's Sunday Home— General Washington's Room— Washington's high 
tariff Bill— Nellie Custis— May Randolph Custis— Robert Lee— Washington 



Relics. 



191 



CHAPTER XIX. 

BRADDOCK'S rock, OBSERVATORY HILL, AND ST. ANN'S INFANT ASYLUM. 

General Braddock— The Old Braddock House— Observatory Hill— Graveyard Hill 
—Windmill Hijl— " Camp Hill "—St. Ann's Infant Asylum— Home of General 
Charles Gratiot— Count Charles de Montholon— The Residence of Henry 
Stephen Fox 208 

CHAPTER XX. 

THE DIPLOMATIC CORPS AND HOMES OF THE FOREIGN LEGATIONS. 

The Dean of the Diplomatic Corps— Mr. Stephen Preston— Minister Genet — 
Anthony Merry— The Home of the British Legation— Sir Edward Thornton- 
Minister Vaughan— Minister Fo.\— Minister Pakenham— Sir Philip Crampton 
—Lord Elgin— Lord Napier— Lord Lyons— Sir Frederic Bruce— Lionel Sack- 
ville-West— Sir Julian Pauncefote— The Chinese Minister— Mr. Charles de 



8 CONTENTS. 

Struve— Baron Roman Rosen— Mr. Alexander McGregor— The German Lega- 
tion's Home— The Japanese Legation — The Mexican Legation's Home — 
Senor Matias Romero — The Coreans. 214 

CHAPTER XXI. 

AN HISTORIC RECEPTION — LA FAYETTE's LAST VISIT TO WASHINGTON. 

La Fayette returns to America — La Fayette at the White House — Banquet at 
Gadsby's Hotel — La Fayette in Georgetown — At Arlington Heights — Visits 
Mount Vernon — Yorktown, Richmond, Monticello and Montpelier — Bids 
America Farewell. 230 

CHAPTER XXII. 

CALVERT MANOR, KALORAMA, THE SEVEN BUILDINGS, AND OLD CARROLL 

ROW. 

Calvert Manor — Old Bladensburg — Henry Clay's Room — The Missouri Com- 
promise Bill — Kalorama — Home of Joel Barlow — Robert Fulton — Tom Paine 
a Visitor at Kalorama — Barlow again sent Abroad — Mr. Barlow dies on the 
way Back — The Seven Buildings — Elbridge Gerry — Governor Thomas Johnson 
—The Forrest Family — Past glories of the Seven Buildings — Old Carroll 
Row— A new Library Building — Duff Green Row— " Nick Queen's" — Home 
of Guiseppe'Franzoni — Old Capitol Prison — Annie Royal's Printing House — 
Wirz and Belle Boyd 240 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

HOMES OF LITERARY WOMEN — LITERARY CLUBS. 

Capitol Hill— The Home of Mary Clemmer— Grace Greenwood— Home of 
"Olivia" — Prospect Cottage — A glimpse of Arlington — Ainsworth R. Spofford 
— The Women's National Press Association — The Journalists' Guild — Frances 
Hodgson Burnett _ 259 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

HOMES OF F. T. FRELINGHUYSEN, LEVI P. MORTON AND SALMON P. CHASE. 

The Frelinghuysen House — Arthur's Administration — William E. Whitney — John 
Wanamaker — The Morton House — J. Lothrop Motley — James A. Gartield break- 
fasts with Mr. Morton — Senator Hale in this House— Home of Salmon P. 
Chase — Beautiful Edgewood 268 

CHAPTER XXV. 

GEORGETOWN HEIGHTS — THE CHANGES OF A HUNDRED YEARS — THE HOL- 
LAND HOUSE OF WASHINGTON. 

The Beale Family— Celtic Bell— The Peters Family— The Tudor Estate— The 
Linthicum Mansion — The Russian Minister — General Forrest at Rosedale^ 
Don Angel de Iturbide — "Pretty Prospect "—The Home of President Cleve- 
land — "Oak View" — Holland House — Gales and Seaton — Fugitive Slave Bill — 
Frederika Bremer— Harriet Martineau— The Battle of Bull Run — Miss Dix— 
An Historic Parlor— Theodosia Burr. 276 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

THE STRATHMORE ARMS. 

Here lived Vice-President Wheeler— Senator Edmunds — Judge Harlan— Senator 
Ingalls— James B. Blount— M. C. Butler, of South Carolina— Charles T. O'Far- 
rell, of Virginia— Senators Frye and Tom Reed— Senator McDill and Ex-Gov- 
ernor Carpenter — Isaac Von Schaick — L. B. Caswell — R. M. La Follette — W. 
A. Haugen— A. S. Giffard and John Lind— William H. Wade— William E. 
Mason — Olive Logan Sikes — The Home of General John A. Logan — George S. 
Boutwell — Reuben E. Fenton— Senator Hale— Judge Thomas Hood— Rev. Dr. 
Scott— Mrs. Scott Lord— Mrs. Dimmick— Mrs. Lieutenant Parker— Oliver J[ohn- 
son— C. C. Coffin (Carleton) — Bronson Howard — George Kennan — Fleming — 
Dunnell— McBride — Pepper— Andrews— Carpenter — Frank Palmer— Miss Jen- 
nings—Harriet Taylor Upton 289 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Engraved Expressly for This Work. 



Frontispiece 

Home of Edward Everett 

Octagon House 

duddington manor 

Van Ness House 

Capitol 

Botanical Garden Vista 

White House, South Front 

Family Sitting Room — Upper Corridor 

East Room 

Inner Corridor 

La Fayette Park Vista 

Conservatory 

Ford's Theatre 

House in Which President Lincoln Died 

Theatre Box 

Lincoln Monument 

Peace Monument 

Franzoni Clock 

Decatur House 

Dan Sickles' House 

Home OF Dolly Madison 

Ogle Tayloe Mansion 

Seward House 

Rookery, Agricultural Grounds 

Entrance to Smithsonian Grounds 

Home of W. W. Corcoran 

Charles Sumner's House 

Reverdy Johnson's House 

St. John's Church 

Jackson Monument, La Fayette Square 

Botanical Garden Vista 



I o LIST OF ILL US TRA TIONS. 

Home of George Bancroft 

Home of Daniel Webster 

Home of Admiral Porter 

Blair Mansion 

North Front of Treasury 

Bartholdi Fountain 

McPherson Statue 

East View of Mount Vernon 

Arlington Mansion 

Tomb of Washington 

South Gate, Arlington Avenue 

Monument to the Linknow and Tomb of Fame 

Equestrian Statue of Washington 

Old Christ Church, Alexandria 

English Legation 

Russian Legation 

Home of Romero, Mexican Legation 

German Legation 

Stewart Castle, Chinese Legation 

Franklin Park Fountain 

Botanical Conservatory 

Calvert Manor 

Old Slave Tower 

Fireplace in Clay's Room 

An Ancient Wardrobe 

An Old-fashioned Stairway 

A Moulding of the Staircase 

Octagon Barn 

Home of Mary Clemmer 

Maple Square, Home of " Olivia 

Grace Greenwood's Home 

Prospect Cottage, Home of E. D E. N. Southworth 

Home of Frances Hodgson Burnett 

Mary Clemmer's Library 

Grotto Spring 

The Strathmore Arms 

Calumet Place, Home of Mrs. John A. Logan 

Home of Mrs. Johnson 

Linthicum Place 

Tudor Place 

Statue of General Scott 

Statue of General Thomas 

Thomas Circle 



PREFACE. 

In gathering the materials for this book, it has been the 
writer's aim to collect authentic data of facts, and changes that 
have come over the face of this fair city since the day that Cap- 
tain John Smith sailed up the Potomac, through the Colonial 
days ; from the imaginary city, well-planned on paper, to the mag- 
nificent city of to-day. For the descriptions of the homes, and 
sketches of the men and women who have lived in them, those 
who made the laws of State, society and dress, old journals, 
family letters, and papers have been consulted, and reference had 
to various sources that would give authentic information for the 
work in hand. Something of the glory of vanished generations 
is herein recorded, which, with the passing of time, might have 
faded away and been forgotten ; yet enough remains to fill many 
volumes more. 

But the leading spirits of this day and generation have herein 
been accorded a place and a habitation in history. 

M. S. L- 



DEDICATION. 

To My Brother, Rodney B. Smith : 

When you read this page of dedication and see to whom it is inscribed, 
your first thought will be of the days so long ago, when hand in hand, we 
climbed the hills and spanned the meadow brooks, because we were " nest- 
deserted birds grown chill through something wanting " in our home. Of all 
that such a recollection implies, of saddest and sweetest to both of us, we 
could not speak, one to the other, without voices faltering. It is enough that 
each doth know the other's thought. 

The boyish arm that round me clung in those sad days, has stronger grown 
as years have passed, in manly might, softening or enhancing the bitter or the 
good that each has known. To you I give this inscription, knowing my heart 
will be satisfied ; for between me and the public I shall have, at least, one gen- 
erous reader. 



HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE FIRST SETTLERS. 



Captain John Smith— The Red Man's Wigwam— The Camping Ground of the 
Braves — When the Council-Fires were built — The History of the Red Man 
in the Rotunda — Fleet came over from England — Pioneers of Scotch and 
Irish — Settling of the Colonies — The Century of the new Nation's Birth — 
The Continental Congress— The Itineracy of the Congress of the Confed- 
eration — Controversy over the Location of the National Capital — Curious 
Bit of History— A Pabulum to a Stock-jobbing Herd— Proclamation of 
President Washington — Selection of a Site for the Capital — Three Com- 
missioners appointed — The Widow's Mite — " Obstinate Davy Burns " — 
The Engineer of the Capital— Major L'Enfant's Plan— Babylon and Phila- 
delphia — L'Enfant's Insubordination— His Services at an End— Andrew 
Ellicott reaps the Harvest. 

When Captain John Smith, in 1608, sailed up the Potomac, the 
curling smoke from the red men's wigwams welcomed him. 

The Powtomacks, the Manahoacs and the Anacostians had 
become powerful tribes ; and here where Washington stands in 
all its glory, was the camping ground of these brave men of the 
forest. When the yearly councils of the chiefs were called, it 
was on the banks of the beautiful Potomac that their council 
fires were built. 

The grand assemblies that have convened since, through all the 
decades that have come and passed away, were enacted then, in 
miniature, by these pioneer red men. 

In their war and green-corn dances, with paint and plumage, 
beads and tassels, they celebrated their festive seasons. There 
were times when the war-cry was forgotten and peace reigned 
among the tribes. 

13 



14 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

Then they built their bark canoes, caught their fish, shot their 
game and trapped their beaver ; while the women gathered the 
wild rice, planted the cornfields and stripped the yellow husks. 
But many of these tribes were hostile ; the Manahoacs and Pow- 
hatans hated each other and any small offence would lead them 
to conflict. 

Constant fighting, disease, and intemperance, which latter vice 
they learned from the white men, depleted and weakened the 
tribes, until they were forced to emigrate westward and join forces 
with the Tuscaroras. The Anacostians and the Powtomacs faded 
away, but left a record of their tribes in the rivers that bear their 
names. 

When Captain John Smith first stepped foot upon this goodly 
land, the days were not ripe for the new civilization, and he 
turned his bark down the Potomac. The years came and went. 
The sound of the woodman's axe was not heard. The red men 
of the forest held possession of the land for another decade ere 
the new nation was born. 

When the architects of the Capitol placed the four oblong 
panels in alto-relievo over the doors of the Rotunda, they engraved 
upon the walls of the Capitol the history of the red man better 
than they knew. 

On the east is the landing of the Pilgrims, and the natives 
offering them bread in the form of an ear of corn. On the 
west is a panel containing a group of five figures, representing 
Pocahontas' interposition for the life of Captain John Smith. 
Over the northern entrance William Penn is represented, under 
the spreading elms, in the act of presenting his treaty. The elder 
chief is carrying in his hand the calumet, or pipe of peace ; while 
over the southern door Daniel Boone has just discharged his 
rifle and the dead Indian lies at his feet. Thus the history of the 
red man is most graphically portrayed. 

One hundred and sixty years before Maryland and Virginia 
were settled, a man by the name of Fleet came over from Eng- 
land and established fur-trading posts along the shores of the 
Potomac. The glowing accounts that he sent back, of the beau- 
tiful country he was in, no doubt induced the early Scotch and 
Irish pioneers to emigrate here. 



THE FIRST SETTLERS. I 5 

In the fullness of time, there came a day for the settling of the 
Colonies. It was the century in which the great Queen Elizabeth 
died; a century in which King James gave us the English trans- 
lation of the Bible ; a century that produced a Cromwell, a 
William III., a Louis XIV. \ a century in which Milton dreamed 
of Paradise Lost and Shakespeare sang his songs immortal ; a 
century that gave a new world to the nations of the earth. 

During the Revolution, the Continental Congress was little else 
than an itineracy, holding its sessions in four different states and 
eight cities. New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Lancaster, York, 
Princeton, Annapolis and Trenton. 

After the independence of the Colonies was established, some 
of the disbanded troops from Lancaster came, clamoring at the 
doors of Congress, then sitting in Philadelphia, for money due 
them. Congress was powerless, and called upon the Metropolitan 
police to quell the mob. They were unwilling, or unable to do so. 
Congress therefore adjourned to Princeton, New Jersey. This 
awakened the people to the importance of the selection of a capi- 
tal. It could not be established in any municipal city where the 
Government had not jurisdiction. 

For the next four years the Congress of the Confederation was 
exercised over this subject; but as no official record of the debates 
has been preserved, it is only through the tenor of the resolutions 
adopted that we can glean an insight into the methods, -or appre- 
ciate the trouble that attended a solution of the vexed question. 

These years of controversy over the location of the national 
capital brought to the front the foremost men of the times. Mr. 
Jefferson has recorded in his Ana, a curious bit of history that 
touched the spring which gave the final action upon the adop- 
tion of the Potomac site for the national capital. 

According to Mr. Jefferson's statement, the session of 1790 was 
one of dissension and bitterness, marked by an obstinate scheme 
of Alexander Hamilton's to assume the state debts, amounting to 
twenty million of dollars. An amendment had been offered to the 
pending act covering this amount, which was rejected by the 
House. At this time Jefferson was Secretary of State, and Ham- 
ilton, Secretary of the Treasury. 

Hamilton was nervous and excited, and urged Jefferson to aid 



1 6 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

in its reconsideration. Tlie North favored assumption, and the 
South opposed it, Jefferson and Hamilton met on the streets and 
arm in arm, walked back and forth before the President's house 
for half an hour. Jefferson says that, " Hamilton was in despair. 
He painted pathetically the temper into which the Legislature had 
been wrought, the disgust of those called the " creditor States," the 
danger of the secession of its members and the separation of the 
States. He said that the members of the administration ought to 
act in concert; that the President was the centre on which all 
administrative questions finally rested ; that all of us should rally 
around him, and support by joint effort, measures approved by 
him ; that an appeal from me to the judgment and discretion of 
my friends might effect a change in the vote, and the machinery of 
government, now suspended, might be set in motion. I told him 
that I was really a stranger to the whole subject, not having yet in- 
formed myself of the system adopted. That if its rejection endan- 
gered dissolution of the Union at this incipient stage, I should 
deem it the most unfortunate of all consequences ; to avert which, 
all partial and temporary evils should be yielded. I proposed to 
him to dine with me the next day, and I would invite another 
friend or two, and bring them into conference together; and I 
thought it impossible that reasonable men, consulting together 
coolly, could fail, by some mutual sacrifices of opinion, to form a 
compromise that would save the Union. The discussion took 
place. It was finally agreed, that whatever importance had been 
attached to the rejection of this proposition, the preservation of the 
Union and concord among the States was more important, and 
that therefore it would be better that the vote of rejection should 
be rescinded, to effect which some members should change their 
votes. 

" But it was observed that this pill would be peculiarly bitter 
to the Southern States ; and that some concomitant measures 
should be adopted to sweeten it a little to them. 

" There had been propositions to fix the seat of government, 
either at Philadelphia, or Georgetown on the Potomac ; and it was 
thought that by giving it to Philadelphia for ten years, and to 
Georgetown permanently afterwards, this might, as an anodyne, 
calm in some degree the ferment which might be excited by the 



THE FIRST SETTLERS. 



17 



other measure alone. So two of the Potomac members, White 
and Lee, agreed to change their votes, and Hamilton undertook 
to carry the other point. In doing this the influence he had 
established over the Eastern members, and the agency of Robert 
Morris, with those of the Middle States, effected his side of the 
engagement ; and so the assumption was passed — twenty millions 
of stock divided among favored States, and thrown in, as a pabu- 
lum, to the stock-jobbing herd, and the permanent capital fixed 
on the Potomac." 

Up to this time Mr. Jefferson's statement has been accepted as 
a part of the history of the times. We have shown how the vote 
was obtained. After this, in the year 1791, the 30th day of March, 
fifteen years after the Independence of the United States, followed 
the amendatory proclamation of President Washington. 

After all the controversy, it is a very significant fact, that Con- 
gress fixed absolutely no definite place for the site of the capital 
city. It gave to the President of the United States power to 
choose any site on the river Potomac, between the mouth of the 
eastern branch (Anacostia) to the mouth of the Conococheague — 
in fact he could make his choice within a distance of about a hun- 
dred miles, following the river windings from the present site of 
Washington, to where the Conococheague joins the Potomac at 
Williamsport, Washington County, about seven miles from Hagers- 
town. 

Under this act, the President had it in his power to have fixed 
the capital one hundred miles up the river. 

A contemporaneous letter of Oliver Wolcott's says, " In 1800 
we are to go to the Indian place with the long name, on the Poto- 
mac," — meaning Conococheague. 

The result shows that the rare judgment of General Washing- 
ton was peculiarly illustrated in the selection of the site of the 
Metropolitan city, which will continue to bear his name as long as 
the nation lives. 

Many anxious hours of his busy life were given to the subject of 
the location of the capital of the nation, that he believed was 
destined to rival any the world had ever known. 

His was a spirit above the paltry speculations that have some- 
times claimed that the proximity of Mount Vernon and its broad 



1 8 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

acres was the loadstone that influenced his decision. Pause but 
one moment upon any of the heights that crown the city on all 
sides, and you will discover that nature in her most lavish 
moments could not have contributed more generously to the 
beauty of any spot. East, west, north and south of the city the 
country rolls away to mountain, or sea, presenting a picturesque 
landscape, here and there divided by the river as it winds its way 
to the ocean. 

It needed no sordid motive to impress the grandeur of the view 
upon Washington and his associates, in fixing definitely the spot 
upon which the Capitol should rise toward that heaven which 
had blessed its projectors in their efforts to build the temple of 
liberty. The God that ruled over the destinies of our forefathers 
was not a Zeus, hurling thunderbolts, but a Thor wielding a ham- 
mer. They did not float on the wings of Fate with the Greek 
god over them ; but they hammered away, the Norse god giving 
them courage, until all obstacles were overcome. Theirs was a 
courage that looked into the dull, dark future and smiled — a 
courage before which we pause with reverence and admiration. 

The great specific work of this civilization was first to separate 
the individual from the masses and exalt him into a personality. 
Freedom gave Washington the opportunity, and civilization stimu- 
lated him ; we find him, in every emergency, armed with Thor's 
hammer, and the nation was welded and rounded, and the work 
was pronounced good. 

The crowning point of the nation's birth was reached when a 
permanent Nation Home was provided for, and Washington was 
given the power to issue his amendatory proclamation : 

" Now therefoV-e, for the purpose of amending and completing 
the location of the ten miles square, in conformity with the said 
amendatory act of Congress, I do hereby declare and make 
known that the whole of the said territory shall be located and 
included within the four lines following: 

" Beginning at Jones Point, being the upper part of Hunting 
Creek, in Virginia, at an angle of forty-five degrees west of 
north, and running in a direct line ten miles for the first line: — 
Then beginning again at the same Jones Point, and running 
another direct line at right angles to the first across the Potomac, 



THE FIRST SETTLERS. 19 

ten miles for the second line, running two other direct lines of ten 
miles each. The one crossmg the eastern branch 'aforesaid, and 
the other the Potomac, and meeting each other in a point. 

" And I do accordingly direct the commissioners named under 
the authority of the said first mentioned act of Congress, the 30th 
day of March, 1791, fifteen years after the Independence of the 
United States, the said site thus agreed upon, to proceed forth- 
with to have the said four lines run, and by proper metes and 
bounds, defined and limited, and therefore to make due report 
under their hands and seals ; and the territory so to be located, 
defined and limited, shall be the whole territory accepted by the 
said act of Congress as the district, for the permanent seat of 
Government of the United States." 

The three commissioners appointed by Washington for the sur- 
veying, and laying out of the Federal City, were Thomas Jefferson, 
Daniel Carroll, of Maryland, and Daniel Stuart, of Virginia. It 
would seem to have been a very easy matter for the commission, 
after Maryland and Virginia had ceded this right, backed by 
Congress and the President, to have accomplished their task ; 
but from the outset, they found themselves hedged in by the ob- 
stinacy of some of the landholders. The farms of Daniel Carroll, 
of Duddington Manor, Motley Young, David Burns and Samuel 
Davidson covered the ground where the city now stands. 

Negotiations were at last entered into with all but the obstinate 
Scotchman, David Burns. With him the commissioners failed, 
and Washington was told that he alone could bring him to terms. 

The Davy Burns farm lay south of where the President's house 
now stands, and extended as far east as the present site of the 
Patent Office. The farm contained six-hundred acres. By an in- 
strument dated July 5, 1681, a patent was granted to one William 
Langworthy of the six-hundred acres, then called the "Widow's 
Mite," which had been taken up by his father. Washington made 
his way to the Burns farm, getting Uncle Davy to sit down on a 
rustic seat, under a clump of trees that are still the shelter and 
shade of the Burns mansion. He used all his powers of persua- 
sion to bring about the sale. But " obstinate Mr. Burns," as 
Washington often called him in his correspondence, yielded not 
a jot. The story goes that upon one of these occasions, when 



20 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

Washington was trying to convince him of the great advantage it 
would be to him, Uncle Davy testily replied : 

" I suppose you think people here are going to take every grist 
that comes from you as pure grain, but what would you have been 
if you hadn't married the Widow Custis ? " 

At last, after frequent interviews, Washington lost his patience. 
He gave Mr. Burns to understand that he had b'een authorized to 
select the location of the national capital and said : 

" I have selected your farm as a part of it, and the Government 
will take it. I trust you will, under the circumstances, enter into 
an amicable agreement." 

The obstinate Scotchman thought that discretion under the cir- 
cumstances, was the better part of valor, and that by surrendering 
gracefully he could secure a better bargain. 

When the President once more asked : " On what terms will 
you surrender your plantation?" Mr. Burns replied: " Any that 
your Excellency may choose to name." 

We find the deed of David Burns conveying the land to the 
commissioners in trust, the first deed recorded in the city of Wash- 
ington. 

One by one, the original proprietors, Daniel Carroll, Motley 
Young, David Burns and Samuel Davidson surrendered their 
lands, to be laid out as a city, and gave one half of them to the 
Government, for the purpose of raising funds for the erection of 
the necessary public buildings. 

When the negotiations, at last were at an end, on the thirty- 
first day of May, Washington wrote to Jefferson from Mount Ver- 
non to this effect : 

" The owners conveyed to the United States, on consideration 
that when the whole should be surveyed and laid off as a 
city, the original proprietors should retain every other lot, the re- 
maining lots to be sold by Government from time to time, and 
the proceeds to be applied to the improvement of the place." 

The land comprised in the sale was 7,100 acres. For so much 
of the land as might be appropriated for the use of the United 
States, they were to pay twenty-five pounds (sixty-six and two 
thirds dollars) per acre, not including streets. The corner stone 
of the new district was laid by the commissioners April 15, 1791, 



THE FIRST SETTLERS. . 2 1 

and under the direction of Washington, a Frenchman, Peter 
Charles L'Enfant, a skilled engineer, was employed to lay out the 
city. He was a lieutenant in the French provincial forces, but 
when quite young the New World held out many attractions 
for him, and we hear of him as an engineer in the Revolutionary 
army in 1777 ; and in 1778 he was appointed captain of engi- 
neers. 

He was afterwards wounded at the siege of Savannah, and was 
then promoted to be major of engineers, serving near Washing- 
ton. This gave Washington ample opportunity to learn that he 
had in Major L'Enfant a man of rare art culture and of versatile 
endowments, one that was imbued with the civilization of the Old 
World, and when Washington made this selection it was because 
he knew that he would utilize his knowledge of the art and 
architecture of European cities. 

In a letter dated September 9, 1791, the commissioners in- 
formed Major L'Enfant that they had decided to call the plot 
the Territory of Columbia, and the Federal city the city of Wash- 
ington. 

It is a well authenticated fact, that Major L'Enfant's plan, 
notwithstanding the different opinions existing, was the one 
adopted in the laying out of the city. It is also true, that he 
wrote Jefferson, asking his advice, thinking from his long experi- 
ence abroad, that he might give suggestions and plans that would 
be helpful. 

Through all this correspondence, and aside from plans of many 
cities which Jefferson had procured abroad, such as Paris, Mar- 
seilles, Turin, Milan, etc., it is very evident that one plan alone 
stood uppermost in his mind. It was the old Babylonial one, exem- 
plified in the parallelograms and angles of the city of Philadelphia 
— fit emblem of the square-cut, Quaker element that administered 
her municipal laws, but not in keeping with the " line of beauty " 
the Frenchman had pictured in his city of" magnificent distances." 
It conformed however to Jefferson's wishes that he should take as 
the foundation of his plan, the squares of Philadelphia, and the 
topography of Versailles, and then introduce the broad transverse 
avenues intersecting the streets of the city, with a variety of 
circles, open squares and triangular reservations. 



22 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

Major L'Enfant was unfortunately imbued with a French tem- 
perament. In two months after his plan was published he was 
dismissed from the service. It is very probable that his exalted 
ideas of art and finance were not in keeping with the provincial 
methods of the commissioners. The early education of both par- 
ties would tend to separate, rather than combine methods. 

L'Enfant was grand, elegant, magnificent in all his conceptions, 
and when Daniel Carroll began building Duddington house in the 
centre of one of his grand avenues (New Jersey), and he saw that 
it would lead to the breaking up of his great plan, he first admon- 
ished him that it could not be, and when he saw that this was not 
heeded, he did not hesitate to send parties in the night to raze 
the house to the ground, much to the disgust of the commission- 
ers, and especially of Daniel Carroll. Duddington house was 
rebuilt by the Government. 

It was at about this time that Washington wrote to Jefiferson : 
"It is much to be regretted that men who possess talents which fit 
them for peculiar purposes, should almost invariably be under the 
influence of an untrained disposition. I have thought for such 
employment as he is now engaged in, for prosecuting public 
works, and carrying them into effect. Major L'Enfant was better 
qualified than any one who has come within my knowledge in this 
country, or any other." 

In a letter from Jefiferson, dated March 6, 1792, his dismissal 
was thus announced : " It having been found impracticable to 
employ Major L'Enfant about the Federal city in that subordina- 
tion which was lawful and proper, he is notified that his services 
are at an end." 

Andrew Ellicott was the man chosen to finish the laying out of 
the city, after the original plan of Major L'Enfant. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE COTTAGE OF DAVID BURNS. 

The Compact — Oldest Home in Washington — Scotch Ancestry — Meetings of 
the old Neighbors — Tom Moore's Room — Marcia Burns — The Fairest 
Belle in all the Realm — Married J. P. Van Ness — The Van Ness Mansion 
— Latrobe the Architect — Ann Elbertine Van Ness — Arthur Middleton — 
Associations of the Olden Time — Citizens' Testimony — Estate owned by 
Thomas Green — A Lager-Beer Garden. 

When Washington made the contract with Mr. Burns, he 
agreed to have the lines of the streets so run as not to disturb the 
cottage of the latter. This agreement was faithfully carried out 
by the Government, and the oldest home to-day in Washington is 
the " Burns cottage." 

Mr. Burns' estate came to him through a long Scotch ancestry, 
and if he held on to his broad acres with obstinate tenacity, it was 
his right; for, ere Isaac Barre called the colonists "Sons of Lib- 
erty," ere William Pitt thundered in Parliament, " if the Amer- 
icans had submitted to the ' Stamp Act ' they deserved to be 
slaves," — ere Washington was made Commander-in-chief, or Bos- 
ton had had her Tea Party, the thumb-latch of the door to this old 
cottage was smoothed and battered by the hands of sturdy Scotch- 
men. The graceful aspens, the whispering maples, and sturdy 
oaks that now bend and hover over the low roof, then gave shel- 
ter and shade to the sons and daughters of the yeomanry, while 
playing their " Merry-go-round " with little Marcia Burns. 

Those long winter evenings brought many a merry meeting of 
the old neighbors. They would sit before the crackling fire in the 
old fireplace, with its hanging crane and singing firewood, and 
while the flames were making wierd pictures upon the back-log, 
they talked of the old homes and mother country, and cherished 
recollections of Bonnie Doon. 

23 



24 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

Such was the hfe under this roof in the old Colonial days, when 
the master was plain Farmer Burns. But when the sale of the 
broad acres had brought him wealth, there was a change in all 
this. The places of the plain farmers who came, in surtout and 
doublet, to drink their round of apple jack, were taken by men 
famous in the world's history. George Washington, Thomas Jef- 
ferson, Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr were frequent visitors. 
The Calverts, the Carrolls were his intimate neighbors. Tom 
Moore was an honored guest. 

The little room off the large room, on the ground floor, is 
pointed out as Tom Moore's room. Quite possibly it was in this 
room that he wrote his poetry about Americans ; and from here 
he penned to Thomas Hume, the lines : 

" In fancy now beneath the twilight gloom, 
Come, let me lead thee o'er this modern Rome, 
Where tribunes rule, where dusky Davi bow 
And what was Goose Creek once, is Tiber now! 
This famed metropolis where Fancy sees 
Squares in morasses, obelisks in trees ; 
Which travelling fools and gazetters adorn 
With shrines unbuilt, and heroes yet unborn, 

Though naught but wood, and , they see, 

Where streets should run, and sages ought to be. 

So here I pause, — and now my Hume ! we part ; 
But oh ! full oft in magic dreams of heart 
Thus let us meet, and mingle converse dear 
, By Thames at home, or, by Potowmac here ! 

O'er lakes and marsh, through fevers and through fog, 
'Midst bears and Yankees, democrats and frogs, 
Thy foot shall follow me ; thy heart and eyes 
With me shall wonder, and with me despise." 

Could such a cottage stand through the centuries and not have 
its chapter of romance to bequeath tender legacies to the after 
time? Whisperings have brought to us the name of one whose 
graces made this old home beautiful. 

The fairest belle in all the realm was Marcia Burns. It was a 
rich inheritance indeed, to this child of nature, to be surrounded 
with fields of waving grass, and trees, and singing birds, and the 
broad acres, to give her the sense that she was born to a noble 



THE COTTAGE OF DAVID BURNS. 2$ 

principality. It was one that brought many suitors to her home ; 
. but of them all, John P. Van Ness was the lucky man. He was a 
member of Congress from New York. We read of him, that he 
was "well-fed, well-bred and well-read," elegant, popular and 
handsome enough to win his way to any maiden's heart. 

Marcia Burns married Mr. Van Ness at twenty years of age, 
and being the only living heir, inherited the whole of her father's 
vast estate. For several years after their marriage they continued 
to live in the cottage in which she was born, a plain, unpre- 
tentious home ; yet in the day it was built it had no rivals, and was 
known as the Burns Mansion — a low, one-story house with a 
garret, four rooms in all. In all its appointments it bears the 
most primitive stamp. 

In 1820, when their only child returned from school at Phila- 
delphia, a new mansion was ready for occupancy. It stands in 
the same grounds that surround the cottage, and was the most 
magnificent of all the houses in the place. No historic house 
to-day in Washington compares with it in elegant pretentiousness. 
Latrobe, whose master-hand is seen in the Capitol, was the archi- 
tect. This house was built at a cost of $60,000, half a century 
ago. The old cottage was still the object of tender care, and was 
looked upon with the utmost veneration. The Italian mantels 
that adorned the new home, with their sculptured Loves and 
Graces, had no more charm for Mrs, Van Ness (Marcia Burns), 
than the old fireplace in the cottage, sacred to old associations, 
where love had always had a home, and the hearth-fires needed no 
vestal watch to keep them burning. 

The finish of costly woods, the doors ornamented with Spanish 
Azidejos, meant no more to her than the old cottage door that had 
forages swung upon its rude hinges. It was into the new home 
that Ann Elbertine Van Ness was brought. Like her mother, she 
was lovely in character, form and feature. 

Miss Van Ness was soon after married to Arthur Middleton, of 
South Carolina, but in less than two years from the time that the 
Van Ness mansion had echoed with the merry laughter and happy 
voice of girlhood's glee, the young life, which bad always brought 
joy into the home, had gone out forever; the young wife and 
mother was carried to the grave with her baby in her arms. 



26 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

With Marcia Van Ness there was but one abiding thought from 
this time — how best to acknowledge her love of God. The experi- 
ences of life had done their work. Conviction swept like a 
mighty river into every recess of her nature, and she was borne 
on to higher sentiments of love and adoration, self-denial and self- 
abnegation. At the grave of her beloved child, she made her 
offering of the City Orphan Asylum of Washington. Bereft of 
her own, she adopted motherless children and gave to them, 
unstinted, a mother's love, pity and tenderness. The old cottage 
was made her sanctum, and there she would spend hours in medi- 
tation. The atmosphere of the old home where she was born, 
where her parents had lived and died, was filled with pleasant 
memories. The rustling of the leaves, the very song of the 
cricket on the hearth brought back associations of the olden time, 
ere she had drunk of the bitter waters of Marah, on the highway 
of human experience. 

But there came a day when Marcia Burns needed all the grace 
that is promised to the faithful. Her last sickness was long and 
full of suffering, but peacefully she watched and waited, thinking 
more of the loved ones around her than her own suffering. She 
passed away September 9, 1832, aged fifty years. 

At the time she died, Mr. Van Ness was mayor of Washington. 
She was buried with public honors, the citizens placing upon her 
casket a plate with this inscription : 

" The citizens of Washington, in testimony of their veneration for departed 
worth, dedicate this plate to the memory of Marcia Van Ness, the excellent 
consort of J. P. Van Ness. If piety, charity, high principle and exalted worth 
could have averted the shafts of Fate, she would still have remained among us, 
a bright example of every virtue. The hand of death has removed her to a 
purer and happier state of existence, and while we lament her loss let us 
endeavor to emulate her virtues." 

General Van Ness lived to be seventy-five years of age. He 
entertained royally. Every year Congress was his guest. 

It is said that the Government did not live up to its contract, 
but sold lots to private individuals around the Mall. He sued 
the Government, but lost his suit. 

There is a legend that six headless horses still gallop around 
the Van Ness mansion on the anniversary of his death, thus class- 



THE COTTAGE OF DAVID BURNS. 2/ 

ing it among the haunted houses of Washington, in the vocabulary 
of the superstitious. 

During the Civil War, the estate was owned by a Virginian 
named Thomas Green, who zealously cared for the cottage of 
sacred memories. It is now owned by the heirs of ex-Governor 
Swan, of Maryland, and leased— shades of the mighty, how fallen ! 
— for a lager-beer garden. 

It would seem that instead of six headless horses, the spirit of 
Marcia Burns would come back and cry out against such vandalism. 

The houses and the grounds are fast going to decay. The 
stars of Bethlehem grow flowerless amidst the grass, the tangled 
shrubs and underbrush impede the progress of the visitor, the 
winding walks are hedged in by overgrowth, the sunset rays pierce 
through fluttering leaves and rest upon the old cottage roof, 
glorifying it into something of the aspect it bore, when Washing- 
ton looked upon it and shared its old-time hospitality. 



CHAPTER III. 

DUDDINGTON MANOR 

Extracts from old Land-patents — Scotch and Irish Emigrants — New Scotland — 
Mr. Pope's Patent — Prophetic Vision — Called it Rome — A Nation moulded 
— Daniel Carroll — Social Standing — Charles Carroll, Signer of the Decla- 
ration of Independence — Carroll's Visions of a City — A Speculative Move- 
ment — Duddington Manor — The Trouble with L'Enfant — A Visit to 
the Manor — The Home swept away — A Relic of other Days — Thomas 
Low — An Historic Character — Married Miss Custis — The Bill for a United 
States Bank — Misfortune followed — A Bad Memory — A Change of Name. 

By extracts from old land-patents dating back to June 5, 1663, 
we find that one of the patentees was Francis Pope. A company 
of Scotch and Irish emigrated to this country about that time, and 
made a settlement on the land that is included in the District of 
Columbia. 

They divided their lands into farms, and gave the name of New 
Scotland to their home. They lived in their quiet, unobtrusive 
way, reaping and enjoying the fruits of their labor for nearly a 
century; and it was with some of their descendants that negotia- 
tions were made for the land on which the city of Washington 
now stands. 

Mr, Pope's patent included Capitol Hill, and with almost pro- 
phetic vision he saw a city rise, which in the future would be the 
capital of the nation, and which would rival imperial Rome. He 
called it Rome, and was named, therefore, " Pope of Rome." 
Goose Creek, that skirted the foot of the hill bore, from that time, 
the classic name of Tiber. 

The years passed by ; a great nation was being moulded, 
changes came, families were scattered and new ones took their 
places ; in time, Daniel Carroll was in possession of *' Scotland 
Yard," afterward known as Duddington Manor. 

28 



D UDDING TON MANOR. 29 

Daniel Carroll was a man of culture and refinerHent. His 
social standing was in Iceeping with tlie " old Maryland line." 
He was a brother of the Rt. Rev. John Carroll, the first Catholic 
bishop of Baltimore, the man who laid the foundation stone on 
which has been built, in solid masonry, the Catholic Church of 
Maryland, and the founder of the Jesuit College at Georgetown. 

Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, Maryland, a signer of the Decla- 
ration of Independence, was his cousin. Daniel Carroll was 
a delegate to the Philadelphia Convention that framed the Consti- 
tution, and a member of the first Congress of the United States. 

After the selection of the site for the Capitol Mr. Carroll had 
visions of a city on the hill ; he consequently put an exorbitant 
price upon his land. An opinion has prevailed that, as the 
Capitol fronts toward the east, Washington and his associates 
looked for the growth of the city eastward. There are reasons 
why this might not have been in their minds. It must be remem- 
bered that the corner-stone of the White House was laid October 
i3> ^792, and that of the Capitol SeptemlDer 18, 1793, The 
beginning was toward the west, and in the building of cities 
river fronts are not usually deserted. 

A speculative movement was inaugurated and Mr. Carroll sold 
many of his broad acres with " promises of payment." 

Stephen Girard made an offer of two hundred thousand dollars 
for a certain part of the plantation. This was a princely offer, 
but an inflated price was asked, not only by Mr. Carroll, but by 
others who had made purchases for speculative purposes. The 
result was the city lots upon the hill were left on the owners' 
hands and Mr. Carroll never realized the great wealth he antici- 
pated, and when he came to die, his estate was much embar- 
rassed. 

The Carroll mansion, known as Duddington Manor, was 
erected late in the last century. The one that made the trouble 
with L'Enfant remained the residence of some of the members of 
the Carroll family until the summer of 1886. 

The house was erected not far from the site of the one that was 
begun in the centre of New Jersey Avenue, and was the first fine 
house built in the city. A short walk from the Capitol brings you 
to the place. 



30 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON, 

We entered these grounds from the south side not long since. 
The sun had ceased making shadows over Arlington Heights. 
We clambered up the rude steps that had been made in the earth, 
and, by clutching the underbrush, scrambled to the top of the hill, 
where we found, instead of velvet lawns and fertile meadows, a 
primeval forest. The old trees are there under which Carroll and 
L'Enfant may have had their quarrel. We passed on, and found 
a fascination in its very wildness. We reached the gravelled walk 
that led to the place where the old house stood ; but alas ! the old 
landmark had passed away, and like its builder, can be pictured 
only in memory. While standing there visions of departed days 
filled the mind. The gathering darkness added to the delusion, 
and we fancied the place peopled again by men of the old re'gime, 
with their powdered wigs, knee-breeches, buff waistcoats, ruffled 
shirts, and cocked-hats, bustling about, ordering the slaves hither 
and thither with old-time imperiousness. 

We again recall a visit made to the Manor when we were 
shown through the vacant rooms, that gave with every footfall 
echoes of the past ; when we followed our dusky leader into the old 
kitchen, whose brick floor was worn thin with the footsteps of all 
the years, and were told that thirty years had passed since either 
of the sisters, the last of the family and the ruling mistresses of 
the house, had entered it. We see again the signs of neglect and 
decay that have crept over the old home, and its presiding 
geniuses. 

But the fulness of time has come, and the home of the CarroUs 
has been swept away. 

We found on the place an old colored man eighty years of age, 
who was born there and had been a slave. With tottering steps 
he was making his way across the grounds, and in answer to our 
inquiries said : 

" Yes, dey's all done gone. Massa gone. Missus gone, chilluns 
gone." Then with an indescribable chuckle he added, " Ole 
Joe's shackles done gone, too. God bress Massa Lincum ! De 
ole house done gone too, now I spec ole Joe go. Dey say a 
sintacus buy dis place, whateber dem is." 

As the old man limped off in the darkness, we felt that he would 
soon follow those whom he so much revered, and who made this 



DUDDINGTON MANOR. 3 1 

house so beautiful. Even this patient old guardian could not 
stay the hand of change that was so rapidly removing every trace 
of the old palatial mansion. 

******* 

A little farther on we came to a row of two-story buildings, 
built by Thomas Low, of brick brought from England. Their 
antiquity is their only claim to a place in this sketch. Thomas 
Low was an historic character in Washington. At the time 
Warren Hastings was Governor-General in India, Low was his 
friend and amassed a large fortune. He brought to this country 
five hundred thousand dollars in gold. He soon became a friend 
of Washington, who induced him to invest largely in this city of 
anticipations. He married Miss Custis, sister of George W. 
Parke Custis and grand-daughter of Mrs. Washington. 

He built a row of houses on New Jersey Avenue, one block 
south of the Capitol, They were originally first-class boarding- 
houses, and many of the dignitaries of the land were entertained 
beneath their roofs ; Louis Phillippe, Thomas Jefferson, the 
Adamses, Monroe and many others. They are now used as 
Government buildings. It was here that the bill was drawn up, 
with Alexander Hamilton as guide and adviser, to establish the 
United States Bank, 

The row which Mr. Low built near Duddington Place was 
called the " ten house row." 

The high price set upon property operated also against Mr. 
Low's investment. His buildings were left solitary and unoccu- 
pied for a long time, in fact till long after he had passed away, 
with his day and generation. 

Like his benefactor, Hastings, misfortune attended him to the 
grave. His wife parted from him; his fortune wasted away, and 
he spent his melancholy days in little enjoyment. 

He was a man of peculiar temperament and faulty memory. It 
is said of him that he would forget his own name when enquiring 
for letters at the post-office. He once locked his wife in a room 
through thoughtlessness, and came to tov/n, keeping her in 
durance vile until he returned at night. 

As you ascend Capitol Hill, you see upon the right the name of 
George Law, in flaming letters on one of these historic buildings. 



32 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON: 

Whether his own faulty memory changed his name to Law, or 
whether the reasons that kept him from returning to his native 
land made it a matter of convenience, doth not appear ; but by 
the oldest inhabitant, he is more often called Law than by his real 
name, Low. 

THE OCTAGON HOUSE. 

On your way from the Burns home on Seventeenth Street, you 
turn into New York Avenue at the corner of Eighteenth Street, 
and come to the Octagon house. 

This house was built about one hundred years ago by Col. 
John Tayloe, a man of large fortune and one of the representa- 
tive men of the time. He owned a large estate at Mt. Airy, 
Virginia, and divided his time between that home and the Octagon 
house. 

His income was princely. His slave roll was five hundred, and 
among them he had artisans of every class and calling — miners, 
ship-builders and carpenters. Without going outside of his own 
domain he wrought iron, felled the forests, worked the fields and 
built ships. 

The Octagon house stands to-day a hallowed monument to 
departed chivalry. It was in this house President Madison and 
his wife lived after the White House was burned by the British in 
1814. The octagon room over the hall-way is the one in which 
the treaty of peace was drawn. In this house, surrounded by all 
that was brilliant ; by scholars, statesmen, heroes of the war, 
citizens and strangers, Mrs. Madison, the centre of attraction, 
held the elegant " Drawing Rooms " which have made her noted. 

The responsive echoes from barren walls and banquet halls 
deserted, bring back faint glimpses of the brilliant scenes then 
enacted ; but memories still haunt the great rooms and fill every 
alcove, niche and staircase with historic recollections — some that 
we would like to forget. For, when we pass out of these echoing 
halls into the grounds, and look upon the long line of crumbling 
slave-pens and the old auction-block, that has done satanic duty 
through the years, telling their tale of misery and woe, we know 
that human life and human liberty were made a sacrifice ; that 
men, women and children were here sold to the highest bidders. 



D UDDING TON MANOR. ■ 33 

When wit and mirth, beauty and grace, music and dancing made 
the old halls ring with gladness, sorrow sat upon the threshold. 

The story goes, that the spirits of the slaves whom death 
released from their chains, visit the old home and announce their 
coming by the rifiging of bells. At least the Octagon house has 
the reputation of being haunted. 

THE HOME OF HON. EDWARD EVERETT. 

On the south-east corner of Eighteenth and G Streets, stands a 
plain, three-story brick building, with a long L. Many people 
have occupied this house who, in different ways, have become 
noted. 

This house was built and occupied by Mr. Everett, when he was 
Secretary of State under the administration of Millard Fillmore. 

We cannot, here, give a sketch of this brilliant man's career up 
to the time that he occupied a seat in the national House of 
Representatives, which was from 1824 to 1834. In 1835 he was 
made Governor of Massachusetts, a position he filled four years. 
He then went to Europe, and while residing in Florence with his 
family, was appointed Minister to England, Upon his return to 
the United States, he was elected president of Harvard College. 
When Daniel Webster died, the vacancy made in the Cabinet was 
filled by President Fillmore by the appointment of Mr. Everett. 
He had been strongly attached to Mr. Webster and had always 
made him his confidential friend. It seemed a fitting compliment 
that he should be the one appointed to fill the place made vacant 
by the death of his friend. After the close of this administration 
he represented the old Commonwealth State as senator. 

But these were the days when sectional strife was entering the 
wedge to civil discord. To a man of Mr. Ev^erett's transcendent 
patriotism it weighed upon him like a nightmare. He saw the 
end from the beginning. His anxiety for his country was so 
great, that it made fearful inroads upon his health, and ere his 
senatorial term was half over he resigned and returned to private 
life. 

But a man so full of energy and force must needs be occupied. 
He therefore prepared a lecture upon Washington, which he 
delivered in all the leading cities of the Union. By his eloquence 
3 



34 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

he secured one hundred thousand dollars toward the fund to 
purchase Mount Vernon from the Washington family ; and thus 
it is that to-day the people of the United States owe it, in large 
part, to Edward Everett that Mount Vernon is the property of the 
people. 

In i860, he was nominated by the Union party as their candi- 
date for the Vice-Presidency. John Bell, of Tennessee, was the 
candidate for President. A little later on he was using his 
influence, by speeches, pen and means to support, protect and 
defend the liberties of his country. He was the beau-ideal of 
what the American statesman should be. 

The next person occupying this house was Jefferson Davis, 
then Secretary of War in the Cabinet of President Pierce. 

He had been married twice. His first wife was the daughter of 
ex-President Zachary Taylor. She married him against the 
wishes of her father, who, for 'years, never exchanged a word with 
her husband. After her death, Mr. Davis married Miss Howell, 
of New Jersey. It was after this marriage that he occupied this 
house. He continued to live in it while Secretary of State. 
When he was again elected to the Senate he lived on I Street, 
between Seventeenth and Eighteenth, northwest. 

And now we come to a name that we hardly know whether to 
give the honor of an abiding-place, or not. A man who cannot 
be honest or true to friend or foe, deserves no recognition from 
his fellow-men. But this man had filled high official places of 
trust and profit, both in the service of the United States, and in 
the Davis Cabinet. That he proved himself recreant to both, 
every child who reads knows ; that he would have devastated 
cities with Greek fire, and carried into their midst the seeds of 
pestilence, is also well known. After depleting the treasury of 
his friends and his foes, he turned his back on his native land and 
went down into Egypt to retain his ill-gotten gains ; but, even 
there, it was " pricks in his eyes and thorns in his sides." A few 
years later, the flags are at half-mast on the public buildings, 
" Who is dead ? " is asked. " Jacob Thompson, ex-Secretary of 
the Interior Department, under James Buchanan." 

The house has since been the residence of Capt. Henry A. 
Wise, a distinguished officer of the United States Navy, who 



DUDDINGTON MANOR. 35 

married a daughter of Edward Everett. He was born in Brooklyn, 
New York, in 1819. In 1862 he became Commander in the Navy 
and assistant Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance and Hydrography. 
He died in Naples, Italy, in 1869. His wife survived him until 
1881. She was noted for her benevolence. The poor of Wash- 
ington lost in her, a benefactor and friend. 

The house was afterward rented to the Medical Department of 
the Navy for a naval dispensary. Surg.-Gen. Philip S. Wales took 
special pride in this, as it was established under his administra- 
tion of the bureau of medicine and surgery in this department. 

But to-day, only memories of the departed people the house. 
The doors turn not on their hinges, and the sunlight, through 
cracks and crevices, makes only shadows on the wall ; the foot- 
fall on the floor brings back but echoes of the days gone by, and 
memories of those who have left behind them records of noble, 
or ill-spent lives. 

THE WIRT MANSION. 

A few rods to the east of the home of Edward Everett, between 
Seventeenth and Eighteenth Streets, on the south side, stands the 
old mansion once owned and occupied by Hon. William Wirt. 
Here this eminent jurist lived the twelve years that he was 
Attorney-General, a position which he held during the administra- 
tions of James Monroe and John Quincy Adams. 

This house is rich in incident and stories of the past, both 
before and after it came into the possession of Mr. Wirt. The 
first authentic record that we have of it, is that it was formerly 
owned by Tobias Lear. 

Colonel Lear was a distinguished officer in the Revolutionary 
war, and, at one time, was the private secretary of Washington, 
by whom he was always treated with the greatest consideration 
and regard. For many years he attended to the details of Wash- 
ington's private affairs, and was liberally remembered by him in his 
will. He was afterward appointed Consul-General to San Domingo, 
and then was sent to Algiers, as commissioner, to conclude peace 
with Tripoli. This was accomplished in 1805, in a manner not 
pleasing to General Eaton, who, with Hamet Caramelli, the de- 
posed Bey, had gained important advantages over the reigning Bey. 



36 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

Mr. Lear's conduct was approved by the Government, though 
highly censured by many of the people. One morning in the fall 
of 1816, while residing in the mansion, he was found in tiie summer- 
liouse of the grounds, in the rear of the house, with his brains blown 
out and a pistol in his grasp. In 18 17, this property was purchased 
by William Wirt from Benjamin Lear, the son of Tobias Lear. 

Mr. Lear was owner of the old gray-stone warehouse on the 
Potomac, at the western extremity of G Street, close to the river. 
This warehouse was built about 1798, and was the first substantial 
warehouse built in the city. When the Government was moved 
in 1800, all the official furniture and archives were landed at this 
wharf and stored in this building. 

At that time only the Navy and War departments were com- 
pleted ; all the boxes, etc., that belonged to those particular 
departments were carried there, and everything belonging to the 
other departments "was transferred to hired houses opposite the 
" Six Buildings " on Pennsylvania Avenue,, between Twenty-first 
and Twenty-second Streets. At that time there were so few 
wagons in the city that it was difBcult to procure a sufficient num- 
ber to move the public property. Mrs. Adams speaks of the same 
inconvenience in getting fire-wood to keep the White House warm. 
Mr. Wirt was born in Bladensburg, Maryland, in 1772, of 
Swiss and German parentage. He was educated in Montgomery 
county, Maryland; read law, and commenced practising in 1792, 
in Culpepper Court House. In 1795, he married Miss Lucy Gil- 
more of Virginia, and settled near Charlottesville. His wife lived 
but five years. In 1799, he was chosen clerk of the House of 
Delegates, and was afterwards appointed chancellor of the east- 
ern shore of Virginia ; the year 1802 found him practising law in 
Norfolk and engaged in literary work. During this time he pub- 
lished in the Virginia Argus, his " Letter to a British Spy." Later 
there appeared in the Richmond Enquirer, a series of papers from 
his pen, under the title of " Rainbow." 

He was retained to assist in the prosecution of Aaron Burr for 
treason. He was Attorney-General of the United States from 
1817 to 1829. It was during these years that he lived in the G 
Street mansion. 

When this house was purchased it was three stories high, with 



DUDDINGTON MANOR. 



3; 



attic and back buildings. The grounds extended from the corner 
of Eighteenth and G, down to F Street, and passed by and included 
all the ground on F Street in which Michler Row now stands, 
coming north to G Street, where Clark's, formerly Cruit's, large 
stable now stands. Mr. Wirt's stables were filled with fine horses 
and carriages. 

There was a beautiful flower garden on the east of the house, 
which you approached through a veranda, Mrs. Wirt was a con- 
noisseur in the flower kingdom, and it was while living in this 
house that she wrote her " Flora's Dictionary." This was the 
first book published containing emblems of flowers with appropri- 
ate selections from the poets ; it had also an appendix containing 
the botanical history of each flower, and suggesting why the flower 
was chosen to represent the emblem. 

Mr. Wirt made large additions to the place ; a spacious dining- 
room was built, which was often used for dancing parties. This 
was, at that time, the largest room for private entertainments 
in Washington. We can readily people these rooms again in 
memory. As a matter of course, the judges of the Supreme 
Court, of which Judge Marshall was chief, were frequent visitors. 
The members of the Cabinet under the administrations of James 
Monroe and John Quincy Adams, were all men of distinguished 
ability. There was William H. Crawford, of Georgia; Richard 
Rush, of Pennsylvania, Secretary of the Treasury ; John C. Cal- 
houn, Secretary of War; Smith Thompson, of New York, and 
Samuel Southard, Secretary of the Navy, and Henry Clay, of 
Kentucky, Secretary of State. These were some of the men who 
made up a galaxy of really great men who adorned society in 
those days, and made a brilliant and charmed circle oftentimes 
in the Wirt mansion. 

Mr. Wirt was twice married. At the time of his first wife's 
death he was about thirty years of age. It is said of him that he 
was a most companionable, genial, warm-hearted man, highly 
engaging and prepossessing in manner. He was strikingly ele- 
gant and commanding in appearance. 

At Pen Park, Albemarle County, where he married Miss Gil- 
more, he placed this tablet over the grave of her who first brought 
him to this spot: 



38 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

Here lies Mildred, 

Daughter of George and Lucy Gilmore, Wife of 

William Wirt. 

She was born Aug. 15, 1772 ; Married May 25, 1795; 

Died Sept. 17, 1799. 

Come round her tomb each object of desire, 
Each purer frame inflamed with purer fire ; 
Be all that's good, that cheers and softens life, 
The tender sister, daughter, friend and wife, — 
And when your virtues you have counted o'er, 
Then view this marble, and be vain no more. 

His second wife was not won without many apprehensions on 
the part of the paterfamilias. The lover, at this period of his 
life, had no promises of a fortune, or even a living competency to 
strengthen his claim, and so it came that Colonel Gamble, for 
reasons best known to himself, when the momentous question was 
proposed, thought best to put the gay young man on probation. 

During this interval, his biographer says. Colonel Gamble had 
occasion to visit his future son-in-law's office at sunrise one sum- 
mer morning. It, unluckily, happened that Mr. Wirt had the 
night before brought some young friends there, and they had had 
a merry time, which had so beguiled the hours that even at sun- 
rise they had not departed. The colonel opened the door, little 
expecting to find any one at that hour; his eyes fell upon a 
strange group. There stood Mr. Wirt with the poker in his right 
hand, the sheet-iron blower fastened upon his left arm, which was 
thrust through the handle ; on his head was a tin wash basin, and 
as to the rest of his dress — it was hot weather, and the hero of 
this grotesque scene had dismissed as much of his wardrobe as 
comfort might be supposed to demand, substituting a light wrap- 
per that greatly added to the theatrical effect. 

There he stood in his whimsical caparison, reciting with an 
abundance of stage gesticulations, Falstaff's onset upon the 
thieves. His back was toward the door, and the opening of it 
drew all eyes. We may imagine the queer look of the anxious 
probationer as Colonel Gamble, with a grave and mannerly 
silence, bowed and withdrew, closing the door behind him without 
the exchange of a word. 



DUDDINGTON MANOR. 



39 



It is quite possible some escapade of this kind gave credence to 
another story told of Mr. Wirt. The story runs that, after the 
death of his first wife, while residing in Richmond, Virginia, he 
sometimes indulged in sprees. At one time, after a night of con- 
viviality, and while still under the influence of wine, he lay asleep 
under a tree in the most public thoroughfare of the city. The 
young lady to whom we have already referred, chanced that way, 
and seeing him in this condition and wishing to shield him from 
the public gaze, took out her handkerchief and laid it over his 
face. When Mr. Wirt awakened from his sleep of intoxication 
and removed the handkerchief, he saw it bore the initials E. M. G. 
It is difficult to say which feeling predominated, chagrin that she 
should have found him there, or joy at the flicker of hope to his 
aspirations this action on the young lady's part gave to him. 

It has been said, as far as the handkerchief story goes, that 
Miss Gamble declared it lacked one important element, which was 
truth. As for his convivial spirit, the Falstaff night, at least, 
points a moral and adorns a tale. Mrs. Southworth, in her novel, 
" Self-Made, or Out of the Depths," repeats this story of her hero, 
Ishmael, who is regarded as the prototype of Mr. Wirt. 

About this time in Mr. Wirt's life, the promotion to the chancel- 
lorship came in most opportunely to sustain the pretensions of the 
lover. But after his marriage and the expenses of a household 
came upon him, we find this extract from a letter written to a 
friend : '' This honor of being a chancellor is an empty thing, 
stomachally speaking ; that is, a man may be full of honor, and his 
stomach may be empty ; or in other words, honor will not go to 
market and buy a peck of potatoes. This is the only rub that 
clogs the wheels of my bliss. But it is in my power to remove 
even this rub, and in the event of my death to leave my wife and 
my children independent of the frowns or smiles of the world." 

He resigned the chancellorship, and the success he made in life 
is known to the world. He was a man greatly beloved for his 
social virtues ; but each year the illustrious are passing away 
with the fading memories of contemporary friends. 

When General Jackson was mad6 ^President, Mr. Wirt rented 
his mansion to Governor Branch, of North Carolina, Secretary of 
the Navy, during his first term ; afterward to the Hon. Lewis 



40 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON: 

McLane, Secretary of the Treasury. Mr. McLane had served as 
Senator from the State of Delaware. He was also Minister to 
England, and afterwards became a resident of Baltimore, where he 
was for many years President of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad 
Company. 

Mr. Wirt sold this property to the branch bank of the United 
States, which was then in the building now in use by Riggs & Co. 
The bank sold the property to Major Andrews of the army, after 
which it was purchased by the late Dr. Thomas Lawson, Surgeon- 
General of the army. Dr. Lawson was a bachelor; he lived here 
for a time, but afterward rented the house to the French minister, 
Count de Sartiges, who became noted for the hospitalities dis- 
pensed during his long residence in Washington. 

The next person to occupy this house was the Hon. Aaron 
Brown, Postmaster-General under President Buchanan. His res- 
idence here was very brief ; he had held the office but little more 
than a year when he died. While he resided here his wife and 
stepdaughters, the Misses Saunders, gave very elegant entertain- 
ments. 

The mansion was next used as a fashionable boarding-school, 
instituted by Mrs. Smith. In addition to the usual exercises, she 
established a riding-school on the grounds, where young ladies 
were instructed in horsemanship. 

The Prince of Wales when on a visit to this country, was enter- 
tained here at lunch by Mrs. Smith. 

When Dr. Lawson died, this, with other valuable property, was 
willed to his children ; their mother was his colored housekeeper. 
The property was sold by them for an asylum for the orphans of 
the army and navy. It has since been used as an office by the 
Signal Corps. 

This house, to-day, stands a silent witness of the "have beens," 
filled with mournful echoes of the past. 

A few squares to the west of this are two double, three-story 
brick houses, one at the corner of Twenty-Sixth and K Streets; 
the other and older, near what is known as the lower K Street 
bridge. They are large and commodious buildings that at once 
strike the looker-on as houses whose histories reach back into the 



D UDDING TON MANOR. 4 1 

shadowy past. They were built about the year 1728, by Col. 
John Peters of Georgetown, whose son, Thomas Peters, married 
Martha Custis, a sister of Washington Parke Custis, of Arlington. 
His mother was the beautiful Eleanor Calvert, of Mount Airy, 
Prince George County, Maryland, the daughter of Benedict Cal- 
vert and grand-daughter of the sixth Lord Baltimore, who had mar- 
ried John Custis, the son of Lady Washington by liei first marriage. 
Martha Washington, as is well known, on the death of her sou 
John Custis, took these children and brouglu ihem up as her 
own. 

Mr. Hines, an old resident, in his recollections of Washington 
city, relates an incident appropriate to these houses : 

"General Washington had ridden up from Alexandria, and 
crossed the ferry to Georgetown, where he was received by 
the students of Georgetown College and citizens, armed and 
organized for the occasion, who saluted him with a volley of 
cheers. General Washington was greatly pleased, and so 
expressed himself, at the soldierly appearance of the boys, who 
wore red waist belts. They then formed a procession and 
escorted the general over the bridge to Peters' house, and formed 
in line opposite the spot where, for so many years, stood the old 
dilapidated brewery." 



CHAPTER IV. 

HISTORIC HOMES OF LAFAYETTE SQUARE. 

The White House — Home of the Sixth Congress — John Adams, President — 
Ofificials number fifty-four — Architect of the Capitol — The peerless Latrobe 
— The new Capitol — John Cotton Smith's letter — One wing of the Capitol 
erected — Pennsylvania Avenue on paper — Covered with Alder Bushes — 
The six Buildings — Only two comfortable habitations — An improvised 
Sidewalk — President Adams' Address — Meagre Accommodations for 
Congress — The President's House — Washington at the laying of the Cor- 
ner-stone — He never lived in it — Mrs. Adams found everything in con- 
fusion — Letter to her Sister — Lost on their Way — The house upon a 
grand Scale — Woods everywhere and no wood to burn — In a new Country 
— Four Miles to return Calls — Dries Clothes in the East Room — The first 
Levee — Anecdotes of Rev. Mr. Smith — Abigail Adams as Wife and 
Mother — Her Letter to her Husband. 

In 1800, on November 17th, twenty-four years after the Decla- 
ration of Independence, the Sixth Congress took up its abode in 
the capital city. John Adams was President ; Thomas Jefferson, 
Vice-President ; Oliver Wolcott, Secretary of the Treasury ; Samuel 
Dexter, Secretary of War ; and Benjamin Stoddard, Secretary of 
the Navy. 

The Government officials numbered fifty-four persons, including 
the President, Secretaries, and various clerks. 

Congress had appropriated money, and the friends of the Dis- 
trict of Columbia had borrowed funds to push forward as rapidly 
as possible, the Capitol building. Mr. Hallet was the first archi- 
tect of the Capitol, and was succeeded by Mr. Hadfield and Mr. 
Hoban ; but a few years after, the magic touch of the peerless 
Latrobe made it a habitable and imposing building. 

Philadelphia was a far more attractive city in all respects, and 
the members of Congress who attended the first session held in 
Washington, were unhappy over the discomforts that beset them. 

42 



HISTORIC HOMES OF LAFA YETTE SQUARE. 43 

They wrote most dismally of the condition of everything. Their 
letters give graphic descriptions of the new Capitol, and, in fact, 
give the only picture we have of the city at that time. 

The following letter by John Cotton Smith, member of Con- 
gress from Connecticut, portrays vividly the cheerless state of 
affairs at that time. 

" Our approach to the city was accompanied with sensations not 
easily described. One wing of the Capitol only had been erected, 
which, with the President's house, a mile distant from it, both 
constructed of white sandstone, were shining objects in dismal 
contrast with the scene around them. 

" Instead of recognizing the avenues and streets, portrayed on 
the plan of the city, not one was visible, unless we except a road, 
with two buildings on each side of it, called New Jersey Avenue. 

" Pennsylvania Avenue, leading, as laid down on paper, from the 
Capitol to the Presidential mansion, was, nearly the whole distance, 
a deep morass covered with alder bushes, which were cut through 
the width of the intended avenue during the ensuing winter. 
Between the President's house and Georgetown, a block of houses 
had been erected, which then bore and may still bear, the name 
of the 'six buildings.' There were, also, other blocks, consisting 
of two or three dwelling houses, in different directions, and, now 
and then, an isolated wooden habitation, the intervening spaces, 
and indeed the surface of the city generally, being covered with 
scrub oak bushes on the higher grounds, and on the marshy soil 
either with trees or some sort of shrubbery. Nor was the desolate 
aspect of the place a little augmented by a number of unfinished 
edifices at Greenleaf's Point, on an eminence a short distance 
from it, commenced by an individual whose name they bore, 
but the state of whose funds compelled him to abandon them, not 
only unfinished, but in a ruined condition, 

" There appeared to be but two really comfortable habitations 
within the bounds of the city, one of which belonged to Dudley 
Carroll, Esq., and the other to Motley Young. 

"The roads in every direction were muddy and unimproved. 
A sidewalk was attempted in one instance by a covering formed of 
the chips of the stones which had been hewn for the Capitol. It 
extended but a little way and was of little value ; for in dry weather 
the sharp pavement cut our shoes, and in wet weather covered 
them with white mortar. In short, it was a new settlement." 

On the 2 2d of November, with the Houses of Congress in 
joint session, Thomas Jefferson presiding, President Adams made 



44 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

the annual address, from which period it was considered that the 
national capital was christened ; and that, for all time, it would 
remain in the city of Washington. 

The accommodations of the District at that time were so meagre, 
that it was with great difficulty that members of Congress obtained 
any of the conveniences that they had enjoj^ed in New York and 
Philadelphia. 

The friends of the District expected speedy growth for the city, 
and that the public buildings would arise like Aladdin's palace; 
but the sequel has shown that not until the re'gime of that age 
had passed away, did Washington become the joride of tlie na- 
tion. 

Among the houses projected by the builders of this great Cap- 
itol was the President's residence, now familiarly known all over 
the world as the " White House." 

Washington, himself, officiated at the Masonic laying of 
the corner-stone, but never lived in it; yet under his eye the 
structure rose in form and comeliness, and he had the satisfaction 
of walking through it with his wife, a few weeks before his 
death. 

It is a grand edifice, fashioned after the palace of the Duke of 
Leinster in Dublin, by the famous architect, Hoban. It is most 
delightfully situated, on the twenty acre reservation known as the 
President's Grounds, fronting on Pennsylvania Avenue, and run- 
ning back to the Potomac River very near the Davy Burns Cot- 
tage. In fact, it is a part of the disputed fields and possessions 
of that tenacious old Scotchman. The grounds are now beauti- 
fully cultivated. The house is built in the Grecian style of archi- 
tecture, having, on the north side, a grand portico supported by 
Ionic columns, and a semi-circular colonnade on the south. Spa- 
cious corridors, grand salons, lofty ceilings, state and private 
dining-rooms, library and living-rooms, do credit to the ability of 
Hoban, and should be the admiration of every American. 

When President and Mrs. Adams arrived here, in 1800, they 
found everything connected with the establishment in a deplor- 
able condition, which she has described so minutely in a letter to 
her daughter, that it is given here to show some of the difficulties 
that surrounded them. 



HISTORIC HOMES OF LA FA YETTE SQUARE. 45 

"Washington, November 21, 1800. 
"My Dear Child: — 

" I arrived here on Sunday last, and without meeting with any 
accident v/orth mentioning, except losing ourselves when we left 
Baltimore, and going eight or nine miles on the Frederick road, 
by v;hich ::icans v/c were obliged to go the other eight through 
woods, v/hcrc v/c v/andered two hours without finding a guide, or 
a pr,('^; fortunately, a straggling black came up with us, and we 
cn^agcc? hii.i as a guide to extricate us from our difficulty. But 
woods ere all you see from Baltimore until you reach the city, 
which \z only so in name. 

" Here and there is a small cot without a glass window, inter- 
spersed among the forests, through which you travel miles without 
seeing any human being. In the city there are buildings enough 
if they were compact and finished, to accommodate Congress and 
those attached to it ; but as they are, and scattered as they are, 
I sec no great comfort in them. The river which runs up to 
Alexandria, is in full view from my window, and I see the vessels 
as they pass and repass. The house is upon a grand and superb 
scale, requiring about thirty servants to attend and keep the apart- 
ments in proper order, and perform the ordinary business of the 
home and stables ; an establishment very well proportioned to the 
Presidential salary. 

"The lighting of the apartments, from the kitchen to the parlors 
and chambers, is a tax indeed ; and the fires we are obliged to 
keep to secure us from daily agues is another very cheering com- 
fort. 

" To assist us in this great castle, and render less attendance 
necessary, bells are wholly wanting ; not one single one being 
hung through the whole house, and promises are all you can ob- 
tain. This is so great an inconvenience that I do not know what 
to do, or how to do. 

"The ladies in Georgetown, and in the city, have, many of them, 
visited me. Yesterday I returned fifteen visits ; but such a place 
as Georgetown appears ! why our Milton is beautiful — but no com- 
parisons. If they will put me up some bells and let me have wood 
enough to keep fires, I design to be pleased. I could content 
myself anywhere for three months ; but surrounded by forests, 
would you believe that wood is not to be had, because people can- 
not be found to cut and cart it? Breisler entered into a contract 
with a man to supply him with wood. A small part — a few cords 
only — has he been able to get. Most of that was expended to dry 
the walls of the house before we came in, and yesterday the man 
told him it was impossible to procure it cut and carted for him. 
He has recourse to coals, but we cannot get grates made and set. 
We have, indeed, come into a new country. 



46 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

"You must keep this all to yourself, and when asked how I like 
it, say that I write you that the situation is beautiful, which is 
true. 

" The house is made habitable, but there is not a single apart- 
ment finished ; and all inside, except the plastering, has been 
done since Breisler came. We have not the least fence, yard, or 
other convenience without, and the great unfinished audience-room 
I make a drying-room of, to hang up the clothes in. The prin- 
cipal stairs are not yet up, and will not be this winter. Six cham- 
bers are made comfortable. Two are occupied by the President 
and Mr. Shaw, two lower rooms, one for a common parlor, one for 
a levee-room. Upstairs, there is the oval room, which is designed 
for the drawing-room, and has the crimson furniture in it. It 
is very handsome now, but when completed it will be beautiful. 

" If the twelve years in which this place has been considered as 
the future seat of Government, had been improved, as they would 
have been, if in New England, very many of the inconveniences 
would have been removed. 

" It is a beautiful spot, capable of every improvement, and the 
more I view it, the more I am delighted with it. 

" Since I sat down to write, I have been called down to a ser- 
vant from Mount Vernon, with a billet from Major Custis, and a 
haunch of venison, and a kind congratulatory letter from Mrs. 
Lewis, upon my arrival in the city, with Mrs. Washington's love, 
inviting me to Mount Vernon. When health permitting, I will go 
before leaving this place. 

" Two articles we are much distressed for ; the one is bells, but 
the more important is wood, yet you cannot see wood for trees. 
No arrangement has been made, but by promises never performed, 
to supply the new-comers with fuel. Of promises Breisler has 
received his full share. 

" He has procured several cords of wood, but six or seven of 
that was kindly burnt up to dry the walls of the house, which 
ought to have been done by the commissioners ; but which, if left 
to them, would have remained undone to this day. Congress 
poured in ; but, shiver! shiver! no wood-cutters, nor carters to be 
had at any rate. 

" We are now indebted to a Philadelphia wagon for bringing us, 
through the first clerk in the Treasurer's office, one cord and a 
half of wood, which is all we have for this house, where twelve 
fires are constantly required, and we are told the roads will soon 
be so bad that it cannot be drawn. 

" Breisler procured two hundred bushels of coal, or we must have 
suffered. This is the situation of almost every person. The pub- 
lic officers have sent to Philadelphia for wood-cutters and wagons. 
The vessel which had my clothes and other materials, has not 



. HISTORIC HOMES OF LA FA YETTE SQUARE. 4; 

arrived. The ladies are impatient for a drawing-room. I have 
no looking-glasses but dwarfs for this house ; not a twentieth part 
lamps enough to light it. Many things were stolen, many were 
broken by the removal. Amongst the number my tea china is 
more than half missing. Georgetown affords nothing. My rooms 
are very pleasant and warm, whilst the doors of the halls are 
closed. 

" You can scarce believe that here in this wilderness I should 
find myself so occupied as I do. My visitors, some of them, come 
three and four miles ; the return of one of them is the work of a 
day. Most of these ladies reside in Georgetown, or in scattered 
parts of the city, at two and three miles distant." 

Mrs. Adams had an opportunity to display her remarkable 
executive ability and consummate tact, to get the mansion in 
condition to hold the first levee, January ist, 1801. 

The oval room on the second floor was connected with a draw- 
ing-room, and the sparse furniture so deftly arranged, that none 
but the initiated knew of the planning and anxious hours spent 
over the affair. 

Washington having been driven to the establishment of levees 
while President, when the seat of Government was in New York 
City, they were continued in Philadelphia and could not be dis- 
pensed with in the new capital, notwithstanding the impractica- 
bility of such ceremonious affairs, with the President's house 
unfinished and everything in chaos. 

Mrs. Adams was the daughter of a New England minister, and 
as the wife of Mr. Adams, when he was struggling up the ladder 
of prosperity and fame, had been thoroughly disciplined in expe- 
riences ; hence we find her successfully conducting the levees, 
presiding at dinners, and on all occasions of ceremony required 
by the imperative rules of etiquette then in vogue, returning calls, 
receiving visitors, and at the same time fully conversant with the 
affairs of state which absorbed her conscientious husband. It is 
not astonishing that such a parentage should have produced a 
son, who succeeded his father as chief magistrate of the nation. 
Her talent and refinement were innate. She never attended 
school, nor had any of the opportunities that the young people of 
modern times enjoy. 

Mary, her elder sister, married Richard Cranch, an English- 



48 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

man, who had settled near their home, and who was subsequently 
made Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Massachusetts. 
He was father to the late William Cranch, of Washington, who 
presided so long and with such dignity, over the Circuit Court of 
the District of Columbia. 

There is a story that when the eldest daughter was married, Mr. 
Smith preached a sermon to his people from the text : " And 
Mary hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken from 
her." 

Two years after, his second daughter, Abigail, was about to 
marry John Adams, then a lawyer in good practice. Some of the 
parishioners manifested disapprobation ; for the profession of the 
law, for a long time in the colonial history of Massachusetts, was 
hardly thought to be an honest calling ; besides the family of Mr. 
Adams was not thought to be on an equal footing with that of the 
minister. His father was a small farmer near Bainbridge, hence 
the match was not considered good enough for the minister's 
daughter. It was said that Mr. Smith once asked Abigail : 

" Who is this young Adams, and what does he expect to do ? " 

She replied : " I know who he is. I do not know what he is 
going to do, but I do know who it is that is going with him, 
wherever he goes." 

It is quite probable that the objections of his parishioners 
reached Mr. Smith's ears, for it is said that soon after the mar- 
riage took place, he replied to them, in a sermon from the text, 
Luke vii. ■^2> '• " ^'^'^ Joh" came neither eating bread, nor drinking 
wine, and yet ye say he hath a devil." 

But nothing daunted, Abigail Adams went on from the day of 
her marriage to the day of her death, with well balanced judg- 
ment and cheerfulness of soul, brightening her husband's pathway. 

It matters not where we find her, whether at her own fireside 
with her family around her, at Quincy ; or when called upon to 
separate from husband and son, to let them cross the seas, leaving 
the hearth-stone desolate ; or sitting upon Penn's Hill listening 
to the roar of cannon ; or in her letters to Jefferson and other 
statesmen ; or standing before George the Third and the haughty 
Queen Charlotte, as representative of the first Republican Court ; 
or presiding in the President's House as First Lady of this 



HISTORIC HOMES OF LAFAYETTE SQUARE. 49 

glorious Republic, Abigail Adams was always the tender mother, 
the inspiration of her husband, the grand example, the regnant 
woman. 

Her letter to her husband, on learning of his election to the 
Presidency, is a model of deep piety and wifely devotion. 

"You have this day to declare yourself head of a nation. And 
now, O Lord, my God, thou hast made thy servant ruler over the 
people, give unto him an understanding heart, that he may know 
how to go out and come in before this great people : that he may 
discern between good and bad ! ' For who is able to judge this, 
thy so great a people,' were the words of a royal sovereign, and 
not less applicable to him who is invested with the Chief Majestry 
of a nation, though he wears not a crown and the robes of royalty. 
My thought and meditations are with you, though personally 
absent, and my petitions to heaven are that the things that make 
for you peace may not be hidden from your eyes. My feelings are 
not those of ostentation upon the occasion. They are solemnized 
by a sense of the obligations, the important trusts and numerous 
duties connected with it. 

" That you may be enabled to discharge them with honor to 
yourself, with justice and impartiality to your country, and 
with satisfaction to this great people, shall be the daily prayer of 

" Yours, 

"A. A." 

Both Mr. and Mrs. Adams, though very quiet in their tastes, 
conformed to the customs of the times, both in dress and in style 
of entertainment. The President appeared always at state dinners 
and levees in a richly embroidered coat, silk stockings, huge 
silver buckles on his shoes, and powdered wig. 

Their career in the Executive Mansion was characterized by 
many brilliant entertainments and genuine hospitality. 
4 



CHAPTER V. 

THE WHITE HO-USE DURING THE JEFFERSON AND MADISON ADMIN- 
ISTRATIONS. 

The Wife and Daughter of President Jefferson — Their Life in Europe — Mrs. 
Adams and Mary in London — Letter of Mrs. Adams to Mrs. Cranch — 
Her Fondness for Mary — Mary's Grief at parting — A beautiful Girl — Mr. 
Jefferson leaves Europe — Marie's Marriage to Mr. Randolph — Mary's to 
Mr. Eppes — Everything crude in the White House — Jeffersonian Simplic- 
ity — A horseback Ride to the Capitol — Jack Eppes' Sixteen hundred 
dollar Four-in-hand — Slush King and Mud Monarch — Knee-breeches, 
buckled Shoes, ruffled Wristbands — Priest and Democrat — Jefferson's 
Aversion to Pomp — French influence — " Levees done away " — " Overland 
Travel" — The first Child born in the White House — Mrs. Madison 
assists Mr. Jefferson — Jefferson's Canon of Etiquette — Mr. Adams and 
Mr. Jefferson estranged — Hamilton and Burr — Mrs. Adams writes Mr. 
Jefferson — Mr. Adams and Mr. Jefferson die July 4, 1S26 — The Capital 
a Wilderness — Party Strife ran high — Oil on the troubled Sea of Politics 
— The " Piping Times of Peace " only hovered over the Nation — Napo- 
leon's Friendship a Pretence — A stroke at America's Commerce — Ready 
to shatter his own Household — Personal Ambition — Josephine broken- 
hearted — Napoleon at Elba — Louis XVIH. on the Tiirone — Free Trade 
and Sailors' Rights — Madison declares War — The British enter Wash- 
ington — Mrs. Madison at her Best — Her great Triumph — Her Letter to 
her Sister — Ready to flee — Saves Washington's Portrait and the State 
Papers — She leaves the House — Escapes to Virginia — The Dinner-party a 
Canard — The White House in Ashes — The "Octagon" their Home — 
French Treaty signed there — Grand Levee in 1816 — Retires from Public 
Life — Sleeps at Montpelier. 

Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States, 
entered the White House March 4, 1801. His wife had died 
nineteen years before, leaving two daughters who grew to woman- 
hood. During Mr. Jefferson's stay in Europe these daughters 
were with him. Marie went with him in 1784, and resided in a 
convent during her father's stay. In 1787, Mary, who was but 

SO 



TUE WHITE HOUSE. 5 i 

eight years of age, reached London in care of a maid. Mrs. 
Adams received her, and thus writes of her to her sister, Mrs. 
Cranch, at home : 

" I have had with me for a fortnight, a little daughter of Mr. 
Jefferson's, who arrived here with a young negro girl servant, 
from Virginia. Mr. Jefferson wrote me some months ago that he 
expected them, and desired me to receive them. I did so and 
was amply rewarded for my trouble. A finer child of her age I 
never saw ; so mature an understanding, so womanly a behavior, 
and so much sensibility united, are rarely to be met with. 

" I grew so fond of her and she was so attached to me, that 
when Mr. Jefferson sent for her, they were obliged to force the 
little creature away. 

" She is but eight years old. She would sit sometimes and 
describe to me the parting with her aunt, who brought her up, the 
obligations she was under to her, and the love she had for her 
little cousins, till the tears would run streams down her cheeks : 
and how I had been her friend, and she loved me ; her people 
would break her heart by making her go again. She clung 
around me, so that I could not help shedding tears at parting 
with her. She was the favorite of everyone in the house. I 
regret that such fine spirits must be spent in the walls of a con- 
vent. She is a beautiful girl, too." 

Mr. Jefferson left Europe with his daughters in 1789. Marie 
married Thomas Maine Randolph, Jr., and Mary married ]\Ir. 
Eppes, of Virginia. 

When Mr, Jefferson was inaugurated President of tTie United 
States, Marie was living at her husband's country home near 
Monticello. Mary was happily situated at Monticello. 

We have seen how crude everything was, connected with the 
White House, during Mr. Adams' administration ; and how sorely 
taxed was Mrs. Adams, with her superior tact and economic 
experience, to sustain the official grandeur expected in the Presi- 
dent's house. It could hardly be expected that Mr. Jefferson, as 
the candidate of the Anti-federalists and without a wife, could 
effect much change in the domestic, or social administration of 
the Executive Mansion. 

Much has been written and more been rung upon the ears of 
the public of " Jeffersonian Simplicity." We read of his mount- 
ing his horse and riding to the Capitol to take the oath and 



52 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

deliver his inaugural address ; but we hear very little of Jack 
Eppes having been sent to Virginia to purchase a four-in-hand, 
for which he paid sixteen hundred dollars, not reaching the Capi- 
tol in time for the ceremony ; and of the dilemma for a time to 
know how Mr. Jefferson was to get to the Capitol, for in the spring. 
Slush was king, and Mud monarch on Pennsylvania Avenue. 
We hear, too, of his simplicity in dress, appearing in " blue coat, 
brass buttons, blue pantaloons and coarse shoes tied with leather 
shoestrings," rather than the knee-breeches and big buckled low- 
cut shoes then in vogue ; but we have pictures of him in knee- 
breeches, buckled shoes, ruffled wristbands, etc., and if " apparel 
oft proclaims the man," his pictures represent one of quite a 
different type from the one first described. 

The public has also been informed that when the Federalists 
fell from power the age of politeness passed away. Peter Parley 
Goodrich lamented the decline of the good old custom of young- 
sters giving respectful salutations to their elders in passing. " It 
was at this period," he tells us, "that the well-executed bow 
subsided first into a vulgar nod, half-ashamed and half-impudent, 
and then, like the pendulum of a clock, totally ceased." He 
adds, " When Jefferson came in, rudeness and irreverence were 
deemed the true mode for democrats," a statement which he illus- 
trates by one of his anecdotes. 

" How are you, priest ? " said a rough fellow to a clergyman. 

" How are you, democrat ? " was the clergyman's retort, 

" How do you know I am a democrat? " asked the man. 

" How do you know I am a priest ? " asked the clergy- 



man. 



" I know you to be a priest by your dress," answered the 



man. 



" I know you to be a democrat by your address," replied the 
parson. 

Parton says he is afraid it is true, and he fears much of the 
superior breeding of the gentlemen of the "old school," of which 
we are so frequently reminded, was a thing of bows and ceremo- 
nies which expressed the homage claimed by rank, instead of that 
friendly consideration due from man to man. 

Mr. Jefferson had spent so much time with Mr. and Mrs. 



THE WHITE HOUSE. 53 

Adams during their incumbency of the Executive Mansion, both 
in Philadelphia and after their occupancy of the White House, 
that he had little to learn in the line of etiquette, or domestic 
administration, when called to succeed Mr. Adams as President. 
His political hobby of equality, however, led him to express great 
aversion for the " Republican Court," and the pomp attending 
the copy of royalty in matters of state and social intercourse. 
How much credit or discredit is due France for the moulding of 
Jefferson's character, will always remain an enigma. That his 
long residence there was historically important, all will agree. 
That he brought back with him a policy which at once entered 
into the formation of the character of this new nation, is well 
known. How much this influence has affected the body politic 
of this nation will never be known ; or what the difference would 
have been if, in the distribution of offices in 1784, Congress had 
sent Jefferson to London, instead of Paris, and appointed John 
Adams to Paris, instead of London. 

As soon as Mr. Jefferson was in the White House, he 
announced that " Levees are done away." Everybody was wel- 
come and his desire was that every one Should feel at home. 
The President's house was the seat of hospitality. 

Mrs. Randolph and Mrs. Eppes alternated in the honors of pre- 
siding; but with their own large families, and the difficulties 
attending a journey from Monticello to Washington, in those days 
of " over-land " travelling by one's own conveyance, or the slow 
coaches, or on horseback, made it a matter of great effort for 
them to be in constant attendance. Mrs. Randolph was unable 
to make more than two visits during her father's terms. On one 
of these, her son was born, James Madison Randolph being the 
first child born in the White House. She was a lovely woman 
with rare accomplishments. 

Fortunately for Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Madison was his Secretary 
of State, and Mrs. Madison and her sister, Miss Payne (after- 
wards Mrs. Cutts) were ever ready to assist Mr. Jefferson in mat- 
ters of etiquette and entertainment. 

The many little notes addressed to Mrs. Madison by Mr. Jef- 
ferson, show how much he depended upon her " to take care of 
female friends expected," and other social matters. 



54 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

As much as Mr, Jefferson desired to ignore the question of cere- 
mony, he was obliged to pay attention to official affairs of this 
kind, and therefore, we have to-day a canon of etiquette formu- 
lated by him. 

It was a very democratic arrangement of matters of state, 
socially, and one the family of the President to-day could hardly 
fulfil. One feature was the time on which calls at the Executive 
Mansion should be returned. 

Many additions in the way of furnishing were made to the 
White House during Jefferson's administrations, because, while 
professionally very unpretentious, Mr. Jefferson had dallied long 
enough at the French Court in the profligate age of Napoleon, to 
acquire a taste for the elegancies of Parisian society, and he 
therefore gradually drifted into much more pretentious surround- 
ings toward the close of his life in the White House than he 
promised in the beginning. 

The affairs of state did not always sit lightly. Partisan feeling 
ran high. Mr. Adams and Mr, Jefferson had become estranged 
personally and politically ; but it is to be believed that the men 
foremost in the country's service, had the country's good at heart, 
however much they might differ as to the means to be employed 
to bring it about. 

The code dicello had taken away the great Hamilton. Aaron 
Burr, after killing this matchless statesman, was tried for treason. 
Death entered the family circle and bore away the President's 
daughter Mary, who, though at the White House but little, was 
much to her father. It was on the occasion of her death that 
Mrs. Adams wrote him the touching letter herewith appended : 

" QuiNCV, May 20, 1804. 

*' Had you been no other than the private inhabitant of Monti- 
cello, I should ere this time have addressed you in that sympathy 
which a recent event has awakened in my bosom ; but reasons of 
various kinds withheld my pen, until the powerful feeling of my 
heart burst through the restraint, and called upon me to shed the 
tear of sorrow over the departed remains of your beloved and 
deserving daughter ; an event which I sincerely mourn. 

"The attachment which I formed for her when you committed 
her to my care upon her arrival in a foreign land, under circum- 
stances peculiarly interesting, has remained with me to this day ; 



THE WHITE HOUSE. 55 

and the account of her death, which I read in a late paper, 
recalled to my recollection the tender scene of her separation 
from me, when with the strongest sensibility, she clung round my 
neck, and wet my bosom with her tears, saying : ' Oh ! now I 
have learned to love you, why will they take me away from you ? ' 

" It has been some time since I conceived that any event in 
this life could call forth feelings of natural sympathy. But I 
know how closely entwined round a parent's heart are those cords 
which bind the paternal to the filial bosom, and when snapped 
asunder, how agonizing the pangs. I have tasted of the bitter 
cup and bow with reverence and submission before the great Dis- 
penser of it, without whose permission and overruling providence, 
not a sparrow falls to the ground. 

" That you may derive comfort and consolation, in this day of 
your sorrow and affliction, from that only source calculated to 
heal the wounded heart, and a firm belief in the being, perfection 
and attributes of God, is the sincere wish of her, who once took 
pleasure in subscribing herself your friend, 

" Abigail Adams." 



Perhaps this letter was the beginning of the restoration of the 
pleasant relations between Mr. Adams and Mr. Jefferson, which 
never ought to have been interrupted by partisan bitterness. 

There came a time in later years when a stronger tie was draw- 
ing them together. They were getting to be among the last of 
the surviving signers of the Declaration of Independence. Jeffer- 
son feelingly alludes to it in a letter written to Mr. Adams ; and 
there is something particularly touching in the fact that after years 
of devoted love and labor for their country, ruling the land and 
moulding the nation, they should at last pass beyond, into the 
presence of the Ruler of all nations, on the same day, almost the 
same hour, the anniversary — July 4, 1826 — of the glorious inde- 
pendence of their beloved country. 

■5v "Jf tP -TT -?f -n* T" 

Mr. Madison was Secretary of State for Mr. Jefferson eight 
years. 

The capital was almost a wilderness. The White House was 
separated from the Capitol by a marsh, and was surrounded by 
the debris of unfinished buildings. Thick woods, with openings 
here and there where a house could be seen, formed the setting of 
this palatial home. Venerable oaks spread their branches over 



56 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

the house and were a sort of relief to the unenclosed, barren field 
in which the Executive Mansion was built. 

It was a place in which Mrs. Madison felt quite as much at 
ease, while Mr. Jefferson was President, as when she became its 
presiding genius. She entered the Presidential Mansion at a time 
when party strife was at its highest. While she held opinions of 
her own, grounded on what she believed to be the right, she 
extended the same privilege to every one ; and all were alike 
welcome in the home of the President. 

From out of her great and generous heart, she poured the oil 
of gladness upon the troubled sea of politics, and contending fac- 
tions were harmonized. Men of varied politics met at her table, 
and public strife and bitterness were for a time forgotten. 

But the " piping time of peace " only hovered over the nation ; 
the clouds of the war of 1812 were gathering in the horizon of 
national affairs. Notwithstanding Jefferson's and Madison's sym- 
pathy with France, one of the strong party measures on which 
they were elected, France, or Napoleon, did not hesitate to strike 
at America's commerce when it served him to do so. Yet we 
could hardly expect such a man to respect national friendship, 
when he was found ready to shatter his own household to further 
the ends of personal ambition. The same year that saw Dolly 
Madison, the Lady of the White House, witnessed the Empress 
Josephine's departure from the home of Napoleon, and a few 
months later his marriage to Marie Louise. The eye that 
watched the march of destiny saw, from the hour that Josephine 
turned her back upon the palace, broken-hearted, to wend her 
way to Malmaison, Napoleon's star begin to wane ; and before 
Mr. Madison's administration was ended. Napoleon Bonaparte 
was at St. Helena, and Louis XVHI. on the throne. 

In the meantime the American people, smarting under the 
insults of Great Britain, had adopted the war-cry of " Free trade 
and sailors' rights," and were ready to fight. 

On the ninth of June, 1812, the urbane, peace-loving Madison, 
as President of the United States, declared war against Great 
Britain, and, as is well known, in course of time, the British 
entered Washington. It was through these trying hours that Mrs. 
Madison was seen at her best. Her heroism during the battle 



THE WHITE HOUSE, 57 

of Bladensburgh, and the advance of the enemy into the city is 
one of her greatest triumphs. The familiar letter to her sister at 
Mount Vernon, written during the hours of suspense, tells us 
what heroism was necessary to carry her through the ordeal : 

"Tuesday, August 23, 1814. 
" Dear Sister : — 

"My husband left me yesterday to join General Winder. He 
enquired anxiously whether I had the courage to remain in the 
President's house until his return on the morrow, or succeeding 
day, and on my assuring him that I had no fear but for him and 
the success of our army, he left me, beseeching me to take care of 
myself and of the Cabinet papers, public and private. 

" I have since received two dispatches from him, written with a 
pencil ; the last is alarming, because he desires that I should be 
ready at a moment's warning to enter my carriage and leave the 
city; that the enemy seem stronger than has been reported, and 
that it might happen that they would enter the city with intention 
to destroy it. 

" I am accordingly ready. I have pressed as many Cabinet 
papers into trunks as to fill one carriage ; our private property 
must be sacrificed, as it is impossible to procure wagons for its 
transportation. I am determined not to go myself until I see Mr. 
Madison safe, and he can accompany me, as I hear much hostility 
towards him. 

" Dissatisfaction stalks around us. My friends and acquaint- 
ances are all gone, even Colonel C. with his hundred men who 
are stationed as guard in this enclosure, 

" French John, a faithful domestic, with his usual activity and 
resolution, offers to spike the cannon at the gate, and lay a train 
of powder which would blow up the British, should they enter the 
house. To the last proposition I positively object, without being 
able, however, to make him understand why all advantages in war 
may not be taken." 

Wednesday Morning, 12 o'clock. 
" Since sunrise I have been turning my spy-glass in every direc- 
tion, and watching with unwearied anxiety, hoping to discover the 
approach of my dear husband and friends, but alas ! I can descry 
only groups of military wandering in all directions, as if there was 
a lack of arms or spirit to fight for their own firesides." 

" Three o'clock. 
"Will you believe it, my dear sister, we have had a battle, or 
skirmish near Bladensburgh, and I am still here' within sound of 
the cannon? Mr. Madison comes not. May God protect him! 



58 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

Two messengers, covered with dust, came to bid me fly, but I 
wait for him. At this late hour a wagon has been procured. I 
have filled it with plate and most valuable portable articles 
belonging to the house. Whether it will reach its destination — 
the Bank of Maryland — or fall into the hands of the British 
soldiers, events must determine. Our friend, Mr. Carroll, has 
come to hasten my departure, and is in a very bad humor with me 
because I insist on waiting until the large picture of General Wash- 
ington is secured, and it requires to be unscrewed from the wall. 
This process was found too tedious for these precarious moments. 
I have ordered the frame to be broken and the canvas taken 
out; it is done, and the precious portrait placed in the hands of 
two gentlemen of New York for safe keeping. 

" And now, dear sister, I must leave this house, or the retreat- 
ing army will make me a prisoner in it, by filling up the road I am 
directed to take. 

" When I shall again write you, or where I shall be to-morrow I 
cannot tell." 

Their escape across the Potomac into Virginia, the pillaging 
and burning of the Capitol and the White House are facts famil- 
iar to all. 

The story that Mrs. Madison had issued cards for a dinner 
party, not expecting the enemy would reach the city that night — 
that preparations for the dinner were going on, and that the Brit- 
ish soldiers found, when they marched into the White House, a 
beautiful dinner spread with covers for thirty guests, is only 
equalled by the one that she cut the canvas of General Washing- 
ton's portrait out with a carving knife. Her own letter refutes 
that ; and as to the dinner, an old and trusty servant who closed 
the house, says, " Such was the excitement that day that no cook- 
ing was done, scarcely even for the family," which is altogether 
the most probable. 

When they returned to the capital, it was to find the White 
House in ashes, and the smoke still rising from the heaps of 
blackened ruins. 

Many offers of houses were made. Mrs. Madison arrived first 
and went to her sister, Mrs. Cutts, to await the return of the 
President, who, after looking about, rented the house on the cor- 
ner of New York Avenue and Eighteenth Street, called the 
*' Octagon," and owned by Colonel Tayloe, where they lived that 
winter, and where the treaty of peace was signed. 



THE WHITE HOUSE. rg 

Late in the afternoon of February 14, 1815, there came 
thundering down Pennsylvania Avenue a coach and four foaming 
steeds, in which was Mr. Henry Carroll, the bearer of the treaty 
of peace between the American and British commanders. *'The 
carriage was followed by cheers and congratulations, as it sped on 
toward the office of the Secretary of State, James Monroe ; and 
then to the President's, where the treaty was signed, in the octagon 
room upstairs, 

Mr. Madison afterwards rented the house on the northwest cor- 
ner of Pennsylvania Avenue and Nineteenth Street, where they 
resided until the President's house was rebuilt. 

Mr. Gobright, in his " Men and Things in Washington " says : 
"An old citizen has informed me that the 'levee 'of Mr. Madison, 
in February, 18 16, was remembered for years as the most brilliant 
ever held up to that date in the Executive Mansion." 

At this congregated the justices of the Supreme Court, pres- 
ent in their gowns, at the head of whom was Chief-Justice Mar- 
shall. The Peace Commissioners to Ghent, Gallatin, Bayard, 
Clay, and Russell were in the company. Mr. Adams was absent. 
The heroes of the war of 1812, generals with their aids, in full 
dress. Federalists and Republicans of both Houses of Congress, 
citizens and strangers were thrown together as friends, to be thank- 
ful for the present and to look forward with delight to a o-reat 
future. The most notable feature was the magnificent display of 
the Diplomatic Corps. 

It was on this occasion that Mr. Bagat, the French Minister, 
made the remark, so familiar to all, that Mrs. Madison "looked 
every inch a queen." 

Mr. Madison was about sixty-six years of age when he retired 
from public life to Montpelier, to return to Washington no more. 

Mrs. Madison, however, after Mr. Madison's death, came to 
Washington and lived for years in a house on the corner of H 
Street and Lafayette Square. Both sleep the sleep that knows no 
waking at Montpelier, in West Virginia ; while the world continues 
to think of him as an honest, just man, and of her as without a 
rival in the queenly graces and kindness of heart, which made 
her pre-eminently the most popular woman who has ever presided 
over the White House. 



CHAPTER VI. 

ADMINISTRATIONS OF JAMES MONROE AND JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 

The White House rebuilt — Mr. Monroe inaugurated President — An age of 
heroic Devotion — Mr. Monroe as Senator — Minister to France — Secretary 
of Slate — America a Child among Nations — Mr. Monroe pledged his own 
Credit for his Country — Married Elizabeth Kortright — Her influence 
made its Impress on the Age — She visits Madame La Fayette in Prison — 
The tviro most influential Men in the World — Poor Marie Antoinette — 
The White House when Mrs. Monroe entered it — The East Room a Play- 
room — A brilliant Levee — Henry Clay's " Compromise Bill " — The " Mon. 
roe Doctrine " — Surrounded by intellectual Giants — John Marshall a 
social Favorite — Henry Clay, the Magnificent — John C. Calhoun, Secre- 
tary of War — Thomas Benton as Senator — John Quincy Adams, Secretary 
of State — John McLane, Postmaster-General — William Wirt, Attorney- 
General — John Quincy Adams elected President — The White House 
refurnished — Married Louisa Catherine Johnson — Minister to Berlin, 
Russia, and the Court of St. James — Secretary of .State under Monroe — 
Social Affairs demand a Cabinet Meeting — No Conclusion arrived at — 
Letter to the President of the United States and the Members of the 
Senate — Mr. Adams sustains his position — " Mrs. Adams' Ball " — An 
Event in History — A red-letter Day for Jackson — The Secretary's House 
— Party Influence — A Year of Contention and Strife — Mr. Ticknor calls 
on John Adams — New York Politics — The House elects the President — 
Inaugurated President March 4, 1825 — Chief-Justice Marshall delivered the 
Oath — Mrs. Adams the presiding Genius of the White House — La Fayette's 
Farewell Visit — His Triumph — Mr. Adams a Model of courtly Refinement. 

Congress ordered the White House to be rebuilt in 1815. In 
1818 it was ready once more for occupancy. It was more beauti- 
ful than ever. From 1817 to 1825 was undoubtedly the period of 
the best society in Washington. Mr. Monroe was inaugurated 
President March 5, 18 17. Thus far the Presidents had been men 
who had passed through the fiery ordeal of a revolution for prin- 
ciple ; men who had pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their 

60 



JAMES MONROE AND JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 6 1 

sacred honor to maintain and give success to the cause for which 
so much blood and treasure had been spent. 

Mr. Monroe could hardly have been other than the man he was, 
after having been reared in such an age, surrounded by such men 
and governed by such circumstances. It was an age of heroic 
devotion, of manly self-sacrifice. In 1776, Monroe had just 
graduated from college, and immediately joined the army as a 
cadet. 

From 1790 to 1794 he was United States senator. He was 
appointed the latter part of the year, Minister to France, and 
afterwards to the Court of St. James. He was Madison's Secre- 
tary of State during part of his administration. 

When he was Minister to France and England, this country was 
but a child among nations ; and when the older nations of the 
earth were shaken to the foundations by the disturbing causes of 
the French Revolution, it required a man of peculiar genius to 
sustain America's rights, dignity and honor abroad. 

He also took command of the Ship of State just before she was 
plunged into peril. It is well known that when the treasury was 
exhausted, and the national credit was so low that it was impossi- 
ble to raise funds for the defence of New Orleans, Monroe with 
patriotic devotion pledged his own credit to raise the necessary 
means. 

From the time he graduated from college he was in public life, 
and is always spoken of as " one of the purest public servants " 
that ever lived. He was polished in manners, punctilious in all 
the relations of life, and always dressed with care ; usually appear- 
ing in dark blue coat, buff vest, doeskin breeches, top-boots, a 
military cocked-hat of the fashion of the Revolution, with a bow 
of black ribbon worn as a cockade, and he is now sometimes 
called "the last of the cocked-hats." He married Elizabeth 
Kortright of New York, Her friends thought she made a great 
mistake in refusing many brilliant offers for a plain member of 
Congress. 

It is the era in which men and women live that often gives 
them opportunities to stamp their influence on the public. 

Mrs. Monroe lived at a time the most eventful in the history of 
nations, and whatever of good report we find in her record worthy 



62 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON: 

of emulation, made its impress not only on the age in which she 
lived, but on all subsequent ages. 

The lives of many of the grand women whose patience, forti- 
tude and courage would have graced many a Roman character, 
have almost passed from memory with the century that witnessed 
their heroism. But the women of the nineteenth century cannot 
afford to be ignorant of the history, privations and experiences of 
these women whose lives were beautiful in their simplicity and 
earnestness. 

The pioneers of liberty were sustained by their wisdom. There 
was a moral principle in the field, to which the women of the 
country had trained the populace to do homage. 

During Mr. Monroe's ministry to Paris, Mrs. Monroe made her 
visit to Madame La Fayette in prison. The Marquis de La Fay- 
ette was adored by the Americans, and the indignities heaped 
upon his wife could not be silently accepted, by either our minis- 
ter or his wife. Mr. Monroe decided to risk displeasure by send- 
ing his wife to see Madame La Fayette. 

The carriage of the American Minister appeared at the jail ; the 
keeper advanced to know the object of her visit. Mrs. Monroe, 
putting on the dignity of which she was capable, made known her 
business. Her request was complied with. But a few minutes 
elapsed ere the jailer returned bringing Madame La Fayette, 
attended by a guard. 

The Marchioness sank at her feet, unable to manifest her joy 
from weakness. That afternoon she was to have been beheaded, 
and had been expecting all day the summons to prepare for 
execution. Instead of a visit from the executioner, we can judge 
of her surprise and joy to see a woman — a friend — the wife of the 
American Embassador. This unexpected visit changed the plans 
of the officials, and to the surprise of all, she was liberated the 
next morning. 

It is well known that she sent her son, George Washington, to 
America, to the care of General George Washington, procured 
American passports, went to Vienna, and had an interview with the 
Empress. She reached the prison of her husband, and signed her 
consent " to share his captivity in all its details." The two most 
influential men in the world at that time, George Washington and 



JAMES MONROE AND JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 63 

Napoleon Bonaparte, interested themselves in the prisoners' 
behalf, and they were released, after an imprisonment of five years 
for him, and twenty-two months for Madame La Fayette. 

But poor Marie Antoinette had no American Embassador to 
intercede for her while languishing in prison. The aid afforded 
to the American Colonies, of which she was an enthusiastic advo- 
cate, added to the financial embarrassment in which France -found 
itself, caused her to write, April 9, 1787, "Dearly enough do we 
pay to-day, for our rejoicing and enthusiasm over the American 
war." 

Paris was then considered the centre of all enjoyment. Mrs. 
Monroe entertained with great elegance, and her entertainments 
given after she entered the White House, were marked by the 
same quiet splendor. Mrs. Monroe was an elegant and accom- 
plished woman, and if she copied from foreign courts, her charm- 
ing dignity of manner, and warmth of heart, peculiarly fitted her 
for her exalted station. 

The White House, when they entered it, was meagrely fur- 
nished. The furniture was not of a kind befitting the house of 
the President, and the de'bris from the old building lay in heaps 
over the grounds. In the early part of the administration their 
children occupied the East Room as a play-room. The country 
being at peace once more, the government ordered a silver service 
of plate, and the stately furniture which adorned the East Room 
was purchased in Paris. Each piece was ornamented with the 
royal crown of Louis XVIH. ; this was removed, and the American 
eagle took its place before it was sent from Paris. 

One cannot look at this furniture without recalling the long roll 
of names of men and women, who stand out grandly in our coun- 
try's history, and whose memories are associated with this stately 
room ; its chairs, its tables, its ottomans occupying the same 
places as when they were there in living presence. 

The winter of 1825, it is said, was one of the most brilliant ever 
known in Washington. It was the winter of the exciting election 
in the House of Representatives, when Adams, Crawford and 
Jackson were candidates for President. Marquis de La Fayette 
was here, as the guest of Congress. Congress had voted him 
^200,000 for his services in the Revolutionary war. 



64 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

On New Year's Day, a levee was given of unusual brilliancy. 
Among the guests were Marquis de La Fayette, Henry Clay, Daniel 
Webster, John C. Calhoun, William H. Crawford, Mr. Hayne, of 
South Carolina, Harrison Grey Otis, of Boston — the Chesterfield 
of the North — Stephen Van Rensselaer, Mr. Edward Livingston, of 
Louisiana, and a host of others with their wives and daughters, 
residents of Washington during that memorable winter. It is said 
that no subsequent period of Washington society has surpassed 
its galaxy of talent, beauty and accomplishments. 

Among the important events of Mr, Monroe's administration 
was the passage of Henry Clay's " Missouri Compromise Bill," by 
which slavery was permitted in Missouri, but forever prohibited 
elsewhere, north of the parallel of 36° 30' ; and President Mon- 
roe's memorable message of December 2, 1823, in which he 
advocated the policy of neither entangling ourselves in the broils 
of Europe, nor suffering powers of the Old World to interfere with 
the affairs of the New, generally known as the " Monroe Doctrine." 

On this occasion, Mr. Monroe declared that any attempt on the 
part of any European power to " extend their system to any por- 
tion of this hemisphere would be regarded by the United States as 
dangerous to our peace and safety, and would accordingly be 
opposed." 

Mr. Monroe was surrounded by men, who, De Tocqueville said, 
" would have been intellectual giants in any period of the world," 
like John Marshall, Chief-Justice of the United States. 

In person John Marshall was ungraceful, tall, emaciated, his 
muscles relaxed, joints so loosely connected as not only to dis- 
qualify him, apparently, for any vigorous exertion of body, but to 
destroy everything like harmony in his movements. In spite of 
all this he was a great social favorite ; his influence is known to 
have been foremost in Congress, with the administration. In a 
word, he was a statesman, a jurist and a Christian. 

Henry Clay was Speaker of the House. His tall, towering 
form, his sweeping gestures, his magnetic voice were powerful and 
convincing beyond description. 

John C. Calhoun, at one time Monroe's Secretary of War, was 
a man of splendid physique. He was tall, well proportioned, his 
movements graceful, handsome in form and feature, and frank 



JAMES MONROE AND JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 65 

and courteous in manner. His large, dark, brilliant eyes strongly 
impressed all who encountered them. When addressing the 
Senate, he stood firm and erect, accompanying his delivery with 
angular gesticulations. Upon every subject he was original and 
analytical, depending upon his argument to carry his points. 
Known to be the father of nullification, yet Daniel Webster could 
say of him, " I have not in public, or in private life known a more 
assiduous person in discharge of his duty ; firm in his purposes, 
patriotic and honest, as I am sure he was, in the principles he 
espoused, and in the measures he defended, I do not believe that, 
aside from his large regard for that species of distinction that 
conducted him to eminent stations for the benefit of the Republic, 
he had a selfish motive, or a selfish feeling." 

Thomas H. Benton was a senator at this time ; the first sen- 
ator from the State of Missouri. 

All the departments of Government were represented by men 
of renowned personal character. Mr. Tompkins was Vice-Presi- 
dent ; John Quincy Adams, Secretary of State ; William H. Craw- 
ford, Secretary of the Treasury ; John C. Calhoun, Secretary of 
War ; Smith Thompson, Secretary of the Navy ; John McLane, 
Postmaster-General ; William Wirt, Attorney-General. 

When John Quincy Adams was elected President of the United 
States, Congress appropriated $14,000 to refurnish the White 
House. The East Room was furnished in " magnificent manner. 

Mr. Adams married Louisa Catherine Johnson, the daughter of 
Joshua Johnson, of Maryland. She was born, educated, and mar- 
ried in London. Her advantages were far superior to those 
enjoyed by most women of her time. After John Adams was 
President, John Quincy was Minister to Berlin four years. Mrs. 
Adams proved herself fully competent to act her part in the social 
and political circle in which circumstances had placed her. 

On Mr. Adams' return to America, he was elected United States 
senator. In those days Washington was quite the opposite of the 
Washington of to-day. Then ladies thought it quite a privation 
to leave the gayeties of larger cities to be kept here for some eight 
months. But Mrs. Adams found it very congenial to her, as 
many of her relatives were living here. 

When Mr. Madison was President, Mrs. Adams sailed with 
S 



66 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

her husband to Russia, where he went as United States Minister. 
It was no holiday trip, a hundred years ago, to cross the Atlantic. 
When the country called Mr. Adams to this position, Mrs. Adams, 
nothing daunted, left her two eldest children in America and tak- 
ing the youngest, not two years old, sailed from Boston, in August, 
and arrived in St. Petersburg, the last of October. 

Their six years stay in Russia was an era of intense interest. 
In the history of the world, perhaps, there were never such won- 
drous scenes enacted. Napoleon seemed to have the destinies of 
the Old World in his grasp. The war between England and 
America broke out in the meantime, and communication was 
entirely cut ofif. British ships cruised about our ports to capture 
vessels, and hostile cannon thundered in the capital of our coun- 
try. 

Mr. Adams' biographer says : " He lived in St. Petersburg, 
poor, studious and secluded, on the narrow basis of the parchment 
of his commission, respected for learning and talent, but little 
given to the costly entertainments of an opulent and ostentatious 
circle," 

Mrs. Adams grew weary of her cheerless abode in that far 
northern city of architectural splendor. The entertainment of 
Russian nobles and oriental extravagance had no attraction for 
Mr, and Mrs. Adams while their country was in danger. Mr, 
Adams met the American embassadors in Ghent, leaving Mrs, 
Adams to follow him to Paris, 

Spring came at last, and she set out with her boy, following in 
the wake of a furious war, through a country where passion and 
strife were rampant ; but her courageous spirit carried her 
through, reaching Paris in time to witness the enthusiastic 
delight which greeted the return of Napoleon from Elba, and the 
flight of the Bourbons. 

Mrs. Adams, soon after reaching London, in May, 1815, found 
her husband appointed Minister to St. James, and after a separa- 
tion of six years she was reunited to her children. 

In 18 1 7, when Mr. Monroe succeeded Mr. Madison as Presi- 
dent, he appointed John Quincy Adams Secretary of State, He 
immediately embarked with his family for the United States. 
They arrived in Washington September 20, 1817. For eight 



JAMES MONROE AND JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 6y 

years Mrs. Adams occupied the place Mrs. Madison had so 
charmingly filled for the same length of time. 

No sectional bitternesses were taken into Mrs. Adams' drawing- 
rooms ; but the ever-present and never-settled question of social 
precedence assumed such proportions at the time Mr. Adams was 
Secretary of State, that it became necessary to discuss it in Cabi- 
net meetings. History gives us many instances where affairs of 
state have become gravely involved in these seemingly petty 
affairs of society, and this Republic has not been exempt from 
these entanglements, as the following extract from Mr. Adams' 
diary will show : 

^^ January ^th, 1818. — At the office I had visits from Mr. Gail- 
lard, the president pro tcm. of the Senate, and his colleague, Judge 
Smith, and had conversation with them on various subjects. Mr. 
Gaillard finally asked me if there had been any new system of 
etiquette established with regard to visiting ; to which I replied, 
* Certainly none to my knowledge.' I was, myself, determined to 
make no question of etiquette with any one ; but I have been neg- 
ligent in paying visits, for absolute want of time. They said there 
had been a rule adopted by senators as long ago as when Aaron 
Burr was a member of that body, and drawn by him, that the sen- 
ators should visit only the President of the United States, and 
Mr. King had lately referred them to a book in which it was 
recorded. I told them it was the first information I had ever 
received of the existence of such a rule. 

" I have been five years a member of the Senate, and at the 
commencement of every session had invariably paid the first visit 
to all the heads of the departments, excepting Mr. Gallatin, who 
never having returned my first visit, I never afterwards visited 
him excepting upon business at his office ; and I understood that 
he had never paid, or returned any visits while he was Secretary 
of the Treasury. 

" I had always supposed the universal practice to be that the 
senators paid the first visit to the heads of the departments, 
though since I have arrived here I have heard the practice was 
different. 

" I was ready to conform to any arrangements that might be 
proper, but I supposed the rule that senators would visit only the 
President did not extend to a requisition that the heads of depart- 
ments should first visit them. We parted in perfect good humor 
on the subject." 

On the 22d, he notes : "My wife received this morning, a note 
from Mrs. Monroe, requesting that she would call upon her this 



68 HISTORIC HOMES IN^ WASHINGTON. 

day, at one or two o'clock, and she went. It was to inform her 
that the ladies had taken offence at her not paying them the first 
visit, 

" All ladies arriving here as strangers, it seems, expect to be 
visited by the heads of departments, and even by the President's 
wife. Mrs. Madison subjected herself to this torture, which she 
felt very severely, but from which, having begun the practice, she 
never found an opportunity of receding. 

" Mrs. Monroe neither pays, nor returns visits. My wife 
returns all visits, but adopts the principle of not visiting first any 
strangers who arrive, and this is what the ladies have taken in 
dudgeon. 

" My wife informed Mrs. Monroe that she should adhere to her 
principle, but on any question of etiquette she did not exact of 
any lady that she should visit her." 

The 2oth of December, a Cabinet meeting was held to discuss 
the important question of etiquette in visiting. After two hours 
discussion of the subject, they came to no other conclusion than 
that each one should follow his own course. 

Mr. Adams proposed a rule to separate entirely the official 
character from the practice of personal visiting, to pay no visits 
but for the sake of friendship, or acquaintance, and then without 
inquiring which was first, or which last, and that their wives 
should practise the same. 

Mr. Adams, finding himself liable to be misunderstood in his 
action relative to this singular subject, took the trouble the day 
following the Cabinet meeting, to write to the President and Vice- 
President letters which illustrate the social history of Washington 
at this period. The following is the letter to the President : 

"To the President of the United States. 

"Washington, December 25, 1819. 
" Sir :— 

"The meeting held yesterday, having terminated without any 
arrangement relative to the subject upon which it had, according 
to your desire, been convened, and it being understood that it left 
the members of your administration free to pursue that course of 
conduct dictated by the sense of propriety, respectively, to avoid 
being misunderstood in regard to that which I have hitherto pur- 
sued, and to manifest my wish to pursue any other which you will 
please to direct, or advise, I have thought it necessaiy to submit 
the following observations to vour candor and intelligence. It 



JAMES MONROE AND JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 69 

has, I understood from you, been indirectly made a complaint to 
you, as a neglect of duty on the part of some of the members of 
your administration, or at least of the Secretary of State, that he 
omits paying, at every session of Congress, a first visit of form to 
every member of the Senate of the United States ; and that his 
wife is equally negligent of her supposed duty, in omitting to pay 
similar visits to the ladies of every member of either House wlio 
visit the city during the session. 

" The fact of omission, both as regards my wife and myself, is 
acknowledged ; and as you had the kindness to propose having 
any explanation of the motives our conduct made known to those, 
who, to our very great regret, appear to be dissatisfied with it,, the 
following statement is made to give that explanation. 

" I must premise that having been five years a member of the 
Senate, and having, during four of the five years been accom- 
panied by my wife, I never received a first visit from any one of 
the heads of departments, nor did my wife ever receive a first 
visit from any of those ladies. 

" We invariably paid the first visit and at that time always 
understood it to be the established usage. I do not mean to say 
that every senator then paid the first visit to the heads of depart- 
ments, but that the senators neither exacted, nor expected a visit 
from them. Visiting in form was considered as not forming a 
part either of social, or official duty. I never then heard a sug- 
gestion that it was due in courtesy from a head of department, 
to pay a first visit to all senators ; or from his wife to visit the 
wife of any member of Congress. 

" When I came here two years ago, I supposed the usual rules 
of visiting to remain as I had known them ten years before. 

" Entertaining the profoundest respect for the Senate as a body, 
and a high regard for every individual member of it, I am yet not 
aware of any usage which required formaf visits from me, as a 
member of the administration, to them as senators. 

" The Senate of the United States, independent of its impor- 
tance and dignity, is of all the associations of men upon the earth, 
that to which I am bound by every, and the most sacred and 
inviolable ties of personal gratitude. 

i " In a career of five and twenty years, and through five succes- 
sive administrations, scarcely a year has passed but has been 
marked in the annals of my life by manifestations of the signal 
confidence of that body. Unworthy, indeed, should I be of such 
confidence if I had a heart insensible of these obligations; base 
indeed, should I feel myself, if inflated by the dignity of the 
stations to which their continual uninterrupted and frequently re- 
peated kindnesses have contributed to raise me, I were capable 
of withholding from them, collectively or individually, one particle 



>JO HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

of the reverence and honor due from me to them. But I was not 
conscious that this mode of showing my respect to them was 
either due, or usual, and when the first intimation was given me 
that there was such an expectation entertained by the senators in 
general, I quickly learnt from other quarters, that if complied 
with it would give great offence to the members of the House of 
Representatives, unless also extended to them. 

" To pay visits of ceremony to every member of Congress every 
session, would not only be a very useless waste of time, but not 
very compatible with the discharge of the real and important 
duties of the Department, always peculiarly oppressive during the 
session of Congress. Neither did the introduction of such a 
system of mere formality appear to me altogether congenial to the 
Republican simplicity of our institutions. 

" To avoid all invidious discriminations I have paid no first 
visits to any member of the House of Congress as such, but 1 
have returned the visits of all who are pleased to visit me ; con- 
sidering it as perfectly optional between every member of either 
House and whether any interchange of visits should take place 
between us or not. 

" The rule which I have thought best to adhere to for myself, 
has been pursued by my wife with my approbation. She has 
never considered it incumbent upon her to first visit ladies coming 
to this place, strangers to her. She would draw no line of dis- 
crimination of strangers whom she should, and strangers whom 
she should not visit. To visit all, with the constantly increasing 
resort of strangers here, would have been impossible. To have 
visited only the ladies of members of Congress, would have been 
a distinction offensive to many other ladies of equal respectability. 
It would have applied to the married daughters of the President. 
The only principle of Mrs. Adams has been to avoid invidious 
distinctions ; and the only way of avoiding them is to visit no 
lady as a stranger. She first visits her acquaintances, according 
to the rules of private life ; and receives, or returns visits of all 
ladies, strangers, who pay visits to her. We are aware that this 
practice has given offence to some members of Congress and 
their ladies, and we very sincerely regret the result. We think, 
however, that the principle properly understood, cannot be 
offensive. 

" To visit all strangers, or none, seems to be the only alterna- 
tive to do justice to all. 

" Above all we wish it understood that while we are happy to 
receive any respectable stranger who pleases to call upon us, we 
have no claim or pretension to claim it of any one. 

" It only remains for me to add, that after this frank exposition 
of what we have done, and of our only motive for the course we 



JAMES MONROE AND JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. Ji 

have pursued, I am entirely disposed to conform to any other 
which you may have the goodness to advise. 

" With respect, etc." 

The following day the President called at the office of the 
Secretary of State, returning the letter Mr, Adams had left with 
him. He said the observation it contained had undoubtedly great 
weight, and as it principally concerned the members of the Senate, 
he thought it would be best to give a similar explanation to the 
Vice-President, and ask him to communicate it to the members of 
the Senate who had taken exception to Mr. Adams' not paying 
them the first visit ; asking as a favor that Mr. Adams would 
omit the allusion to his daughter, Mrs. Hay. Mr. Adams did so, 
but adds in his note, " though Mrs. Hay, herself, has been one of 
the principal causes of raising this senseless war of etiquette 
visiting." 

A letter was sent to the Vice-President, embodying nearly the 
same language as the one to the President. The Vice-President, 
Mr. Tompkins, called on Mr. Adams, and the affairs of visiting 
etiquette came up. Mr. Tompkins said the principle upon which 
they rested their claim to a first visit, was, that the Senate being, 
by their concurrence to appointments, a component part of the 
supreme executive, therefore senators ought to be first visited by 
heads of departments. Mr. Adams said he thought the conclu- 
sion was not logical, and if it was it would require that senators 
at home should visit every member of the Legislature, by which 
they were chosen ; a practice which certainly existed nowhere. 
If that line of argument is used it would place the State senator 
above the United States senator, and the constituency above the 
State senator. 

The matter was not settled in the days of Adams and Monroe. 
Mr. Adams gave his undivided attention to the duties pertaining- 
to his ofiice, leaving to Mrs. Adams the arduous task of receiving 
and entertaining the hosts of visitors who crowded the capital — 
diplomats, public men, those who came on business, or pleasure, 
were always made welcome ; and probably there was not a home 
in Washington where society found such an agreeable resort as at 
Mrs. Adams.' 



72 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

The ball given by her January 8, 1824, in honor of Andrew 
Jackson and the anniversary of his victory at New Orleans, was 
one of the most brilliant affairs ever given at that time in Wash- 
ington. It is one of the events that will live in history; it was 
heralded in newspapers and commemorated in song. 

Old Washingtonians do not forget the rhyme in which John 
Ogg celebrated this event in the Washington Republican^ Jan- 
uary 8, 1824, beginning thus : 

" Wend you with the world to-night ? 
Brown and fair and wise and witty, 
Eyes that float in seas oflight, 
Laughing mouths and dimples pretty, 
Belles and matrons, maids and madams, — 
All are gone to Mrs. Adams." 

Among the guests were Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, and John 
C. Calhoun, and if the picture extant of this grand celebration is 
correct, they did it honor by appearing in full-dress costumes — 
blue coats, gilt buttons, white, or buff waistcoats, white neckties, 
high chokers, silk stockings and pumps. 

This event was a happy one for Jackson. It soon afterward 
followed that John C. Calhoun's name was withdrawn from the 
Presidential ticket, and Andrew Jackson's placed instead, John 
Quincy Adams, his host, was running in opposition to him. 

The house in which Mr. Adams lived and where this famous 
ball was given, was on F Street opposite the Ebbitt House. Until 
within a year it has remained there unchanged. Upon its site 
has been erected a magnificent structure, christened the " Adams 
Building," a fitting monument to this great name. 

Charles Francis Adams writes of his mother that during the 
eight years in which Mrs. Adams presided in the house of 
Secretary of State, no exclusions were made in her invitations, 
.merely on account of any real, or imaginary political hostility ; 
nor, though keenly alive to the reputation of her husband, was any 
disposition manifested to do more than amuse or enliven society. 

In this the success was permitted to be complete, as all will 
remember who were then in the habit of frequenting her dwelling. 
But in proportion as the great contest for the Presidency, in 
which Mr. Adams was involved, approached, the violence of 



JAMES MONROE AND JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 73 

partisan warfare began to manifest its usual bad effects. Mrs. 
.Adams decided to adopt habits of greater seclusion. 

Most human affairs have their good and their bad sides, and 
politics is not an exception. The election of the heads of Govern- 
ment determines the general policy of the state, and the class of 
men who shall be appointed to the various offices under the 
control of the administration. Those who feel a strong interest in 
that policy, which their judgment tells them is for the welfare of 
the country ; those who desire to promote special measures ; and 
those who are anxious to obtain and hold office are those who are 
always found ready to work for such interests. They divide into 
parties according to their views, and exert themselves to the 
utmost to bring about the desired result. 

This party influence is useful and beneficial if properly used, in 
causing discussion, examination and thought; stimulating the peo- 
ple to a careful study of their institutions and the principles of 
government, and the effects which certain measures may have on 
the public welfare. 

In a free government where the people wield the power, the 
result of all this discussion and thought is to imbue the general 
mind with ideas of high statesmanship. This is the better side of 
politics. The dark side is that too often it awakens an undue 
degree of passion and prejudice. Men berate and misrepresent 
each other. The same disposition which actuates the friends of a 
candidate also actuates his enemies. They seek to destroy each 
other's influence, while no doubt, all are in earnest in seeking 
the good of their country. They do not stop at public actions, 
but enter the sanctity of the home. Because of this, Mrs. Andrew 
Jackson was led to say : " I assure you that I would rather be a 
door-keeper in the house of my God, than to live in that palace in 
Washington." 

For this there is no remedy but in the intelligence and good 
sense of the people themselves. When men learn to be careful 
and just in judgments of men and measures, politics will have 
taken a higher plane. The year preceding Mr. Adams' election 
was one of contention and strife, and unfortunately neither candi- 
date was elected. 

At this time Mr. George Ticknor, of Boston, presented a for- 



74 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON: 

eign gentleman to ex-President John Adams. They were to avoid 
tallcing upon politics, on account of Mr. Adams' feebleness, but 
when they started to go Mr. Adams asked Mr. Ticknor about the 
Presidential election in the House. Mr. Ticknor very adroitly 
remarked, " It is understood to depend upon the vote of New 
York." Mr. Adams arose and exclaimed, " Then God help us ! 
As boy and man, I have known New York for seventy years, and 
her politics have always been among the devil's incomprehensi- 
bilities." How much his Satanic majesty reveals of New York 
politics, in these latter days, remains one of the enigmas. 

On February 9, 1825, the formal opening of the electoral pack- 
ets took place. Neither of the candidates had received a majority 
of electoral votes. 

The House of Representatives then proceeded to elect from 
the three highest candidates, Jackson, Adams and Crawford. 

The roll of the House was called by States. The vote of each 
State was deposited in a box and placed on the table. The tellers 
were Daniel Webster and John Randolph, who proceeded to open 
the boxes and count the ballots. Mr. Webster announced the 
election of Mr. Adams. 

On the 4th of March, 1825, he was inaugurated President, occu^ 
pying the chair his father had occupied twenty-eight years before. 
Chief-Justice Marshall administered the oath. 

After the inauguration the multitude rushed to the White House 
to congratulate the President. In the evening the usual inaugural 
ball was given. Mr. Monroe gave a levee after the electoral 
count, in honor of the event; of which Mr. Goodrich writes : "In 
the course of the evening Mr. Adams and General Jackson uncon- 
sciously approached each other. General Jackson had a hand- 
some lady on his arm ; the two looked at each other for a moment, 
and then General Jackson moved forward, stretched out his long 
arm, and said : " How do you do, Mr. Adams ? I give you my 
left hand, for my right, you see, is devoted to the fair. I hope 
you are well, sir." Mr. Adams, with accustomed dignity, replied : 
"Very well, sir. I hope General Jackson is well." Only four 
hours had elapsed since both were struggling for the highest 
place to which human ambition can aspire. They met as victor 
and vanquished ; but their deportment toward each other was a 



JAMES MONROE AND JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 75 

rebuke to that littleness of party which can see no merit in a rival, 
or that has no rejoicings in common with a victorious competitor. 

Mrs. Adams was the presiding genius of the White House in 
1825, and La Fayette, by Mr. and Mrs. Adams' invitation, spent 
the last week of his stay here in the Executive Mansion. It was 
from the President's house, September 7th, that he bade the land 
of his adoption a pathetic farewell. 

More than half a century has passed since the last sentence of 
his farewell address was uttered. No true child of America can 
recall it and the scenes that followed, without feelings of the deep- 
est emotion. 

As the last words Avere spoken, he advanced and took President 
Adams in his arms, while tears poured down his venerable cheeks. 
Advancing a few paces, he was overcome by his feelings, and 
again returned, and, falling on the neck of Mr. Adams, exclaimed 
in broken accents, " God bless you ! " There was many a manly 
cheek wet with tears as they pressed forward to take for the last 
time, that hand which was so generously extended for our aid, and 
which was ever ready to be raised in our defence. 

The expression which beamed in the face of this exalted 
man was of the finest and most touching kind. The hero was 
lost in the father and friend, and dignity melted into subdued 
affection ; and the friend of Washington seemed to linger with a 
mournful delight among the sons of his adopted country. As he 
entered the barouche, accompanied by the Secretaries of State, of 
the Treasury, of the Navy, and passed out of the capital he had 
helped to save, the peals of artillery, the music of military bands, 
the large concourse of people produced feelings of indescribable 
emotion in the heart of La Fayette. This was his triumph for hav- 
ing given his money, his services, and almost his life for the lib- 
erty of the sons of men. 

Mr. Adams was, undoubtedly, the most learned man who had 
yet occupied the Presidential chair. In dress and manner he was 
a model of courtly refinement. Mrs. Adams' elegant and intel- 
lectual re'gime was felt throughout the length and breadth of the 
land. Whatever stately court the other Presidents' wives had 
drawn around them, there had never been any superior to Mrs. 
Adams' in elegance, taste, purity, refinement and worth. 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE WHITE HOUSE DURING PRESIDENT JACKSON'S ADMINISTRATION. 

Jackson's Inauguration — John Quincy Adams' polished Manners — Refinement 
in the White House — Much Apprehension by the White House Coteries 
— An Impregnable Support — A Military Hero — A Throng at the Capital — 
An Elegant Banquet and High Carnival — Mrs. Donaldson, Hostess — Jack- 
son's Cabinet — " To the Victor belong the Spoils " — A Letter of Protest — 
Bitter Controversies — The Mrs. Eaton Imbroglio — Jackson's Obstinacy— A 
life-long Friend — An Eventful Career — An Ignominious Death — A Page 
for " Mrs. Grundy" — A spirited Answer to a Foreign Minister — No Com- 
plaints made of Hospitality — Jackson tired of Social Ceremonies — A select 
Ball — No more Exclusives — The President excluded from his own Table — 
Hotel Registers watched — The Magician's Work — Full-fledged Autocrats 
— Mrs. Donaldson leaves Washington — The "lovely Emily " passes from 
Earth — Four Children born in the White House — General Jackson God- 
father — A Clerk in the Treasury Department — A Lock of Hair — Jackson's 
Gift to be placed in the Corner-stone of the Treasury Department — His 
Devotion to the Memory of his Wife — A valued Miniature. 

In 1824, in the contest for the Presidency that was finally set- 
tled by the election of John Quincy Adams by the House of Rep- 
resentatives, Jackson received ninety-nine electoral votes. The 
clamor against his " backwoods manners," uncivilized character 
and military spirit caused his defeat. But the ascendency he had 
gained in the hearts of the people by his military achievements, 
made him invincible in the Presidential election of 1828, and he 
was inaugurated March 4, 1829. 

John Quincy Adams, with his polished manners, classical educa- 
tion, and long experience in European schools when a boy, and at 
foreign courts during his father's and his own diplomatic service, 
was better fitted for this high position than any President who had 
preceded him. His administration had been characterized by 
great refinement in the White House ; Mrs. Adams presiding over 

76 



THE WHITE HOUSE. 77 

the social part with grace and elegance. Hence it is not surpris- 
ing that Jackson's ascendency was looked upon with many fore- 
bodings by the coterie that surrounded the White House, and the 
denizens of the national capital. 

In his courage and executive ability in the administration of 
national affairs they had all confidence. They knew that in his 
eyes, " right was might " ; that the laws would be executed ; that 
the rights of every American citizen would be respected over the 
world, and that evil doers and revolutionists would be punished. 
But whether he would give that consideration which is due in 
the observance of the smaller proprieties of society, obligatory 
upon the Chief Executive of the nation, was a question that gave 
them much apprehension. 

Mrs. Jackson having died just before the inauguration, her 
wonderful influence over his turbulent spirit was gone — a spirit 
that never knew restraint except from the loving hand of her whom 
he mourned. 

No one knew better, or felt more keenly these forebodings, than 
Jackson himself. Circumstances had given him a reputation un- 
just to his tender heart and refined nature. But he was of and 
from the people, and backed by this impregnable support, he en- 
tered upon his duties. 

Like Washington, he was a military hero, and the enthusiasm 
attending his inauguration knew no bounds. Innumerable visitors 
flocked to the capital. Every imaginary means of transportation 
was taxed to its utmost. After the inauguration he was escorted 
to the White House, followed by the populace, who, defying all 
control, rushed into the house, filling every inch of space. 

The elegant banquet spread in the East Room in his honor, was 
soon a scene of the wildest confusion. In the carnival that 
ensued, china and glass were broken, wine was spilled, and order 
was turned into chaos. In their mad endeavor to see the new 
President, men with muddy boots climbed upon the furniture, and 
much of it was soiled, broken, and utterly ruined. 

Jackson knew that he must establish something more in keep- 
ing with the dignity of his position ; hence he at once installed the 
accomplished Mrs. Donaldson, a niece of Mrs. Jackson, as host- 
ess of the White House. He appointed Mr. Van Buren, Secretary 



7 8 HIS TORIC HOMES HV WASHING TON. 

of State ; Samuel D. Ingham, of Pennsylvania, Secretary of the 
Treasury; John H. Eaton, Secretary of War; John Branch, of 
North Carolina, Secretary of the Navy ; and William F. Barry, of 
Kentucky, Postmaster-General. With the exception of Mr. Van 
Buren, the Cabinet was in no sense a strong one. 

Socially, Mrs. Donaldson was not reinforced more strongly by 
the ladies of the Cabinet than the President by the Cabinet 
Councillors. 

Calhoun, as Vice-President, was very near him, but only to 
criticise and irritate, and in no wise to aid him to a successful 
administration. 

In establishing the maxim, " to the victor belong the spoils," 
Jackson had much opposition from the friends nearest and dear- 
est to him. Major Lewis was of that number, and in urging his 
opposition he wrote the following letter : 

" I embrace this occasion to enter my solemn protest against 
it, not on account of my office, but because I hold it to be fraught 
with the greatest mischief to the country. If it ever should be 
carried out, in extensio, the days of this Republic will, in my 
opinion, have been numbered; for whenever the impression shall 
have become general that the Government is only valuable on 
account of its offices, the great and paramount interests of the 
country will be lost sight of, and the Government, itself, will be 
ultimately destroyed. This, at least, is the honest conviction of 
my mind with regard to the novel doctrine of rotation in office." 

But with characteristic determination Jackson carried out his 
policy of removal, wherever he desired to serve a friend or pun- 
ish an enemy. 

Many and bitter were the political controversies and battles of 
his administration ; not unfrequently with the political giants of 
that day, of whom there was a large percentage in the Senate, 
led by Calhoun, Clay, Webster, Benton and others; until finally 
the social question became so entangled in the political contro- 
versy that the Cabinet was disrupted. 

Mr. Van Buren more firmly entrenched himself in the regard of 
Mr. Jackson by espousing his side of the controversy ; and the 
breach between Mr. Calhoun and the President became wider 
through Calhoun's opposition. 



THE WHITE HOUSE. 79 

Jackson was as tenacious of his friendships as he was of his 
principles and his religion. 

The wife of his Secretary of War, Mrs. Eaton, having been 
rather unfortunate in her antecedents and early associations, 
there was the greatest opposition to her presence and position. 
She was slighted on every hand by leading ladies and gentlemen 
of the administration and of the Diplomatic Corps. Friends 
importuned President Jackson to remove Mr. Eaton, and thereby 
eliminate Mrs. Eaton from the Executive circle ; but he would 
listen to none of them, and, it is claimed, threatened to depose 
Mrs. Donaldson as hostess of the Executive Mansion, should she 
join the clamoring persecutors of this really unfortunate woman. 
He knew that she was upright and had in no sense forfeited her 
right to courteous treatment, and he would not desert her, or add 
to her trials by placing her and her husband at the mercy of her 
tormentors by removing Mr. Eaton from the War Department. 

Mr. Eaton was a lifelong friend of Jackson, and nothing would 
induce the latter to wound his friend. Mrs. Eaton was a person 
of fascinating manners and rare personal attractions, bright and 
vivacious in conversation, and a great favorite with the President. 
While nothing could be alleged against her personal character, 
she could not be forgiven her antecedents. Her career was an 
eventful one. The misfortunes that followed her from the day 
of the death of her illustrious benefactor are almost incredible, 
and, were they written without embellishment, would be called a 
romance. She died in this city a few years ago, alone, in great 
poverty and desolation, after seeing all her glory and friends 
depart. 

For years, persons who attended the Metropolitan church here, 
saw each Sunday, a little old lady with no trace of beauty left in 
her pinched and wrinkled face, clad in shabby-genteel garments, 
slip quietly into a seat on the side aisle, near the altar, listen 
attentively to the sermon, and as quietly withdraw at its close. 
Few knew that this was Mrs. Eaton, who was once the most 
conspicuous woman in President Jackson's official circle. 

Mrs. Donaldson was a woman of remarkable beauty ; dark 
auburn hair, brown eyes, fair complexion, lips and brow exquis- 
itely moulded, and a slender, symmetrical figure. Her picture 



80 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

Strongly resembles that of Mary, Queen of Scots. Her wardrobe 
was very elegant. The dress she wore at the inaugural ball is 
still preserved and, even in this day of extravagance, would be 
greatly admired. It is an amber-colored satin, brocaded with 
bouquets of rosebuds and violets, and richly trimmed with white 
lace and pearls. Though Mrs. Grundy was given little space in 
the newspapers of that day, this dress was graphically described. 
It was presented to Mrs. Donaldson by the President-elect, who 
loved his niece as his own child, always calling her " my 
daughter," as a term of endearment. Her vivacity and quick 
repartee delighted him. 

On one occasion a foreign Minister, desiring to compliment 
her, said, " Madam, you dance with the grace of a Parisian. 
I can hardly realize you were educated in Tennessee." 

" Count, you forget that grace is a cosmopolite, and like a flower, 
is found oftener in the woods than in the streets of a city," was 
the spirited reply. At dinners, dancing parties, receptions and 
on all occasions — and there were many in those days of genuine 
hospitality — Mrs. Donaldson presided gracefully, greetmg all 
with much cordiality of manner. 

At the close of Jackson's first term no complaints were heard 
of boorishness, or inhospitable administration ; hence when the 
fates decreed a second term of the Jackson regime, there were, 
no regrets or unkind prophecies of shortcomings in the courte- 
sies of the White House. 

Jackson, however, was determined to relieve himself of much of 
the irksome detail of entertainments. The long drawn out din- 
ing of officials, including the members of both Houses of Con- 
gress, was trying to his patience. The promiscuous levees were 
intolerable to him. After entering upon his second term, he 
invited the ladies of the Cabinet to a consultation on matters of 
etiquette, where he explained that he wished to be relieved from 
the odious ordeal of affairs of ceremony. 

It was resolved that the President should give a grand ball in 
the Executive Mansion, the night before Christmas, 1835, to which 
he could invite persons entitled to such consideration, and thereby 
avoid the promiscuous crowd of a public levee. 

The guests assembled at nine. The ball was in the East Room. 



THE WHITE HOUSE. "8 1 

The supper was served in the West Room at eleven o'clock, and 
the company dispersed by half-past twelve ; but those who were 
not included in the list of guests were much dissatisfied, and the 
following from a contemporary papeY, shows how impossible it was 
to adjust social affairs then, when the city was comparatively in 
its infancy and the population small. 

" A little set of exclusives is now formed under the immediate 
patronage of the President, who has set himself to the grand 
object of separating the true and acknowledged fashion and rank 
of the community, from contact with those who are not exactly of 
the right sort. The social institutions of Washington have too 
long, in his estimation, borne a resemblance to the political insti- 
tutions of the country, and admitted respectable persons from 
every part of the country, without a very rigid scrutiny into their 
pretensions as people of fashion. 

" The system is now to be changed. The scale established by 
the President is peculiarly arbitrary. For instance, clerks with 
three thousand dollars salary are invited, those of two thousand 
are excluded. 

" On Friday the public New Year levee is to be held, and to 
that the Irish laborers, etc., are to be admitted in their shirt 
sleeves, as heretofore. Andrew the First will give an exclusive 
ball and supper once a fortnight, hereafter, till the weather is too 
hot for dancing," 

Again: "The President has determined. to give no more exclu- 
sives. The last one was a shocking exhibition. The members of 
Congress brought ladies; and numbers came from every part of 
the city and vicinity without invitation and pushed their way in. 
Sixteen hundred persons were computed to be present, and of 
course, the rooms were crowded to suffocation." 

The President handed Mrs. Forsyth to the supper-room, but the 
mob rushed past him and excluded him from the table. 

"Well," said he,, very properly offended, "this is the first time 
that I was ever shut out from my own table, and it shall be the 
last." 

It is acknowledged that the social brilliancy of General Jack- 
son's administration equalled, if it did not surpass, any that had 
preceded him. There was as polished and refined society to be 
found in Washington then, as to-day, and it was accessible to all 
who wished to enter it. Undoubtedly there is not a city in the 
6 



82 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

United States where true worth is recognized as quickly as in 
Washington, or where more consideration is given to innate refine- 
ment and talent. Many families depend upon the Government 
for support, giving an equivalent in services rendered. The 
only difference is one of income, which governs the manner 
of style of living. Society is made up of those in official life, 
foreigners of rank, citizens of wealth, men of letters, and women 
of culture and refinement, who give tone and polish to the body 
social. 

General Jackson, following the example of his predecessors, 
except Jefferson, held his levees periodically, and all who wished 
to pay their respects to the President, could do so on these occa- 
sions. 

The members of the Cabinet, heads of Departments, foreign 
Ministers and other dignitaries gave dinners and evening parties, 
during the session, to strangers of note, and as these were multi- 
plied, or lessened, the mercury marked the brilliancy of the sea- 
son on the social barometer. Hotel registers were carefully 
watched. No strangers of note missed an invitation. All lions 
of the day were in demand. Members of Congress were eagerly 
sought. All these were concomitant parts of a fashionable 
party. Some of them, we must admit, were diamonds in the 
rough, coming from the rural districts, in all their simplicity and 
rusticity, with undisguised astonishment that an entry into a 
house must be preceded by a " ticket with your name onto it ; " but 
Aladdin and his magician's lamp works no greater transfor- 
mations, than this entry into fashionable society, where the 
dlite of the land preside ; and the new-comer gradually throws 
aside the order of the novice, and in time becomes a full-fledged 
aristocrat. 

The Secretaries gave the usual round of soirees, which com- 
menced at nine or ten o'clock, the host and hostess standing in 
the drawing-room to receive the company. Dancing, cards and 
conversation were the amusements of the evening. Light refresh- 
ments were served through the apartments, and at eleven o'clock 
a supper was partaken of by the guests ; at three they began to 
disperse, and at four the banquet hall was deserted. 

In the spring of 1836 Mrs. Donaldson's health was so impaired 



THE WHITE HOUSE. 83 

that she left Washington and returned to Tennessee, little think- 
ing, as she passed out of the White House, that she was parting 
with all its honors and pleasures for the last time. She rapidly 
failed in strength, and in December, 1836, the spirit of "the lovely 
Emily " passed from earth. During the following session the 
President's house was closed in respect to her memory. 

Her four children were born in the White House, President 
Jackson acting as godfather to two of them, Mr. Van Buren to 
another, and General Polk to the youngest. One of these children 
is now Mrs. Eliza Wilcox, a clerk in the Treasury Department, 
having been a widow for many years, dependent upon her own 
exertions for the support of herself and family. From her baby 
head Jackson cut a lock of hair, which he sent to the Committee 
to be placed in the corner stone of the Treasury building, as the 
most valued treasure he had to deposit ; little thinking that in the 
changes that time brings, this "precious baby" would ever join 
the throng that goes in and out of the great building in the weary 
round of the treadmill life of d Government clerk. 

Jackson's devotion to the memory of his wife was most pathetic, 
and betrays a tenderness as beautiful as the courage that made 
him immortal. She had been his joy for forty eventful years, 
passing through vituperation, poverty, and the trials that ever 
attend men of mark. 

It seemed a cruel fate that removed her just as he was entering 
upon his triumphs. It is said that he wore her miniature always, 
and at night it was placed upon a little table at his bedside, lean- 
ing against her Bible, that the smile preserved by the artist in the 
loved face might greet him on awakening. And as we look upon 
the picture of this saintly woman, we are not surprised that it was 
the inspiration of that grand old hero. 

The face is oval, the features delicate, the eyes are large and 
beautiful in their clear and spirited gaze; the dark curls which 
cluster round the finely formed head are half revealed and half 
concealed by a cap of soft lace falling veil-like over her shoulders ; 
a double ruff of lace encircles a delicate throat; the brow is broad 
and the mouth is wreathed in a smile that gives the face a lovely 
expression. We can imagine that to steal away from the throng 
that beset him, this old man often had his solace in gazing upon 



84 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

this inanimate portrait of her whom he idolized in life and revered 
in death. 

During Jackson's regime the White House had but few addi- 
tions in the way of elegant furnishings, or expensive luxuries. 
That was left for the more elaborate taste of his successor, Martin 
Van Buren. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE WHITE HOUSE DURING THE ADMINISTRATIONS OF MARTIN VAN 
BUREN AND WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 

Martin Van Buren's Inauguration — Diplomats and Senators — Address to the 
People — A Disciple of Jefferson — A Defeat of Confirmation — Made Vice- 
President — A bad Adviser — Financial Crash — Suspensions the Order of 
the Day — Refined and extravagant Taste — Public Opinion exasperated — 
" Gold Spoon " Speech in Congress — An honest Countryman — " Old Tip 
a mighty early Riser " — His Administration a social Failure — A Visit from 
Mrs. Madison — The Tone of Society changed — The Court of " Martin the 
First " — A striking Contrast — Dance in the Shower of Gold — A Bride at 
the White House — The President at Church — His Excellency's Carriage 
compared with those of Louis Philippe and Queen Victoria — The last Page 
of Fifty Years of Congress — A grand Fete by the Russian Minister, Bo- 
disco — General Harrison nominated at Baltimore — Jeer of the Baltimore 
Republicans — Origin of the "Log Cabin" and " Hard Cider " Epithets — 
• A Word spoken in an evil Hour — A notable Mass Meeting — A topical 
Song — Mr. Harrison's electoral Vote — The Federal Party merged into the 
Whig Party — The " Log Cabins " Victorious — General Harrison inaugu- 
rated President — A national Calamity — Annie Symmes, Wife of the Presi- 
dent — Born in New Jersey — A Remarkable Woman — To the Manner born 
— A Word of her Grandsons — Officers and Soldiers of the Union Army — 
Her Death and Resting Place. 

The inauguration of Martin Van Buren, the successor of Gen- 
eral Jackson, March^4, 1837, has been so graphically described 
by N. P. Willis, that we may be pardoned for giving it in extenso. 

** The Republican procession, consisting of the Presidents and 
their families, escorted by a small volunteer corps, arrived soon 
after twelve. The General and Mr. Van Buren were in the 
" Constitution phaeton," drawn by four grays, and as it entered the 
gate they both rode uncovered. Descending from the carriage to 
the foot of the steps, a passage was made for them through the 
dense crowd, and the tall white head of the old chieftain, still 

85 



86 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON: 

uncovered, went steadily up through the agitated mass, marked by 
its peculiarity from all around it. The crowd of diplomatists and 
senators in the rear of the columns made way, and the ex-Presi- 
dent and Mr. Van Buren advanced with uncovered heads. 

" A murmur of feeling came up from the moving mass below, as 
the infirm old man, just emerged from a sick chamber, which his 
physicians had thought he would never leave, bowed to the people. 
Mr. Van Buren then advanced, and with a voice remarkably dis- 
tinct, and with great dignity, read his address to the people. 

"The air was elastic and the day still, and it is supposed that 
nearly twenty thousand people heard him from his elevated posi- 
tion distinctly. I stood, myself, on the outer limit of the crowd, 
and though I lost occasionally a sentence from the interruption 
near by, his words came clearly articulated to my ear." 



Mr. Van Buren was a disciple of Jefferson, imbibing his doc- 
trines and political principles, entering into politics when only 
eighteen years of age; being a State senator in 1812, subse- 
quently Attorney-General, Governor of the State of New York, 
and United States senator. He was Secretary of State under 
Jackson, who also appointed him Minister to St. James, but Mr. 
Calhoun defeated his confirmation. He was, however, made 
Vice-President when Jackson was elected for the second term, 
and to Mr. Van Buren's influence were many of Jackson's mis- 
takes attributed. 

The country was verging on a financial crash from various 
causes, and in a brief time after the brilliant inauguration, it came 
near destroying the credit and business interests of the whole 
nation. Suspensions were the rule, and solvency the exception. 

Nothing daunted, Mr. Van Buren still insisted upon the pay- 
ment of all public moneys in gold and silver ; and indulged his 
refined and extravagant taste in the repairs and additions to the 
White House. This exasperated public opinion and Congress to 
such an extent, that we find a Mr. Tyler of Pennsylvania, in July 
1840, making a speech of several days before Congress, portray- 
ing the evil times that had fallen upon the nation. All the 
extravagancies of the administration were held up to view. It 
was called the gold and silver administration because of the gold 
spoons, silver knives and forks, and cut glass used at the White 
House. Said Mr. Tyler : 



THE WHITE HOUSE. 8/ 

" What will the plain Republican farmer say when he discovers 
that our economical reformers have expended ^13,000 of the 
people's cash for looking-glasses, lamps and candlesticks ? What 
would the frugal Hoosier think were he to behold a Democratic 
peacock in full Court costume, strutting by the hour before golden 
framed mirrors nine feet high and four and a half feet wide ? 
Why, sir, were Mr. Van Buren to dash into the palace on the 
back of his Roanoke race-horse, he could gaze at and admire the 
hoofs of his charger and his crown at the same instant of time, in 
one of those splendid mirrors ! 

" Mr. Chairman, there is much truth and sound philosophy in 
poor Richard's advice, ' Early to bed and early to rise makes you 
healthy, wealthy and wise,' but it is clear that our new economists 
have little faith in early rising, else they would not have laid out 
seven thousand dollars of the people's money in lamps and candle- 
sticks, 

" The Court fashion of sleeping out the day and waking out the 
night results in keeping the palace door closed, save to persons 
entitled to the entree, until ten o'clock a. m. 

"It was but a few days ago that an honest countryman, on his 
way to the fishing landing after breakfast, having some curiosity 
to behold the magnificent East Room with its gorgeous drapery 
and brilliant mirrrors, rang the bell at the great entrance door of 
the palace. Forthwith the spruce English porter in attendance 
came to the door, and seeing only a plain person on foot there, 
slammed the door in his face, saying: 'You had better come at 
seven o'clock. The President's rooms are not open until ten 
o'clock in the morning.' Whereupon the plain farmer turned 
on his heel, with this cutting remark, ' I am thinking the Presi- 
dent's house will be open before day the 4th of March, to every- 
body, for old Tip is a mighty early riser, and was never caught 
napping. He will not allow supes to be insolent to free men." ' 

But with all this attack upon Mr. Van Buren's extravagance, 
the Executive Mansion was not the scene of much gayety. Mrs. 
Van Buren had died many years before he attained to political 
honors, and had it not been for some of the distinguished ladies 
of society, his administration would have been a social failure. 

In October, 1837, Mrs. Madison returned to live in this city, 
after an absence of twenty-three years. A visitor has left this pen 
picture of her : 

" I took her to be sixty or seventy years old. The same smile 
played upon her features, and the same look of benevolence and 
good nature beamed in her countenance. She had lost the 



88 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

stately and Minerva-like motion which once distinguished her in 
the house of the President, where she moved with the grace and 
dignity of a queen ; but her manner of receiving was gracious and 
kind, and her deportment was quiet and collected. She received 
all visitors with the same attention and kindly greeting. 

" She reuKuUed that a new generation seemed to have sprung 
up. ' What a difference,' she said, ' it makes in society. Here are 
young men and women who were not born when I was here last, 
whose names are familiar to me, but whose faces are unknown. 
I seem suddenly to have awakened after a dream of twenty years, 
to find myself surrounded by strangers.' 

" ' Ah, Madam,' remarked one of the ladies, ' the city is no 
longer what it was when you were the mistress of the White 
House. Your successors have been sickly, tame, spiritless and 
indifferent. The mansion you made so charming and attractive, 
is now almost inaccessible. The present incumbent has no 
female relative to preside over it, and seems so much absorbed in 
party politics that he will scarcely open the house to those who 
wish to see it. The very tone of society has been affected by 
these changes. At one time such was the bitterness of party feel- 
ing that no visits were exchanged between those belonging to the 
administration and those in opposition. Almost all the old citi- 
zens are now excluded from office, and brawlers, broken mer- 
chants, disbanded officers and idle young men have been put in 
their places. But society is beginning to improve, and the 
fashionable of all parties mingle more harmoniously. Foreigners, 
now, as in your day, are ail the go. A poor attache, a gambling 
embassador, a beggarly German baron, or a nominal French 
count is preferred to the most substantial and accomplished citi- 
zen among the young women at this Court.' " 

Mrs. Madison smiled at this picture, and spoke with much feel- 
ing of the former condition and appearance of the city. The 
following spring the days dragged by. The curtain of dulness 
had fallen upon the gay world. The court of " Martin the First " 
was pronounced remarkable for its stupidity. The White House 
had been opened but twice during the winter, and the Cabinet 
ofificers had closed their doors and shrunk into the privacy of 
home life, in striking contrast to the brilliant fetes given by the 
former Cabinet. Private individuals had well sustained the social 
responsibititics of the Government, and had dispensed hospital- 
ities with a lavish hand, but it had become an irksome task. 

We can readily see, when dulness hung like a pall over society, 



THE WHITE HOUSE. 89 

why Congress adjourned to see the great enchantress, Fanny 
Ellsler. We read in Hunter's " Souvenir of the New National 
Theatre," that on Monday, July 6, 1840, 

" The city was electrified by that graceful goddess, Fanny 
Ellsler, the most famous dancer on the globe. She literally turned 
the heads of the audience by the loveliness of her undraped 
limbs, and magnetized them by her exquisite grace of motion. 
The audience seemed to have been changed by her Circean 
power into shouting lunatics, and the New National Theatre was 
the scene of wild and extravagant action. Men and women vied 
with each other in cheering. Gentlemen hurled up their watch 
chains and rings on the stage, and the fair sex stripped their arms 
of their bracelets and followed suit, until the stage floor gleamed 
with the jewels at the feet of the adorable Ellsler, who stood a 
veritable Danae in this shower of gold." 

November, 1838, Major Van Buren, the President's oldest son, 
married Angelina Singleton, of South Carolina. Her first appear- 
ance at the White House was at the New Year's levee, when she 
was supported by the ladies of the Cabinet in receiving with the 
President. From a letter written by a gentleman who once saw 
President Van Buren at St. John's Church, we make the following 
extract : 

" Over his shoulders hung a very blue Spanish cloak. On his 
appearance up drove a splendid carriage drawn by two beautiful 
blooded horses. The carriage' of his Excellency was the most 
superb thing I have yet seen. It was of dark olive hue, with 
ornaments elegantly dispersed, shining as bright as burnished 
gold. When I was in Paris I saw Louis Philippe drive out fre- 
quently to Versailles and back to the Tuileries. When I was in 
London I saw the Queen as frequently drive out from Bucking- 
ham Palace around Hyde Park. When I was at Windsor I also 
saw the same royal personage drive from the castle to the chapel. 
I have seen all these, but I must say that the carriage and the 
horses, the ordinary equipage of the Chief Democrat of this 
loco-foco equality, is far more elegant, superb and splendid than 
that of either of the other great and royal personages. The ser- 
vant dashed up the steps, banged to the door, jumped up behind, 
and away rolled the head of the Republican party, with an air 
and style that can equal and surpass that of any crowned head 
of Europe." 

On the third of March, 1839, the last page was written of fifty 
years of Congress — a half century under the present constitution. 



90 HISTORIC HOMES IiV WASHINGTON: 

The day was signally commemorated by a grand fete given by the 
Russian Minister, Bodisco, who lived very elegantly in George- 
town ; and Martin Van Buren vacated the Executive Mansion, to 
be succeeded by General Harrison, 

As soon as the news had gone abroad that the Baltimore con- 
vention had nominated General Harrison, the Baltimore Repub- 
licans treated the nomination with the most contemptuous ridicule, 
and jeeringly observed that if the Whigs would just give General 
Harrison a barrel of hard cider and settle upon him a pension of 
two thousand dollars a year, "my word for it, he will sit the 
remainder of his days in his log cabin by the side of the sea-coal 
fire and study mental philosophy." 

This was a word spoken in an evil hour. It roused all the 
" Log Cabins " in the country. At the ever-memorable mass 
meeting held in Canton, May 5, at which twenty thousand 
people were present, there was a processsion representing every 
State, with log cabins mounted on trucks, accompanied by barrels 
of hard cider, from which everybody was welcome to drink. This 
meeting was attended by Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, John J. 
Crittenden, Thomas Corwin, Millard Fillmore, John P. Kennedy, 
Henry A. Wise and other eminent Whig leaders. Among the 
speakers, John V. L. McMahon also addressed the meeting, and 
on rising to his feet, used the expression that will never be oblit- 
erated from politics : " I call the nation to order ; " and later on, 
said : " Every mountain sent its rill, every valley its stream, and 
lo ! the avalanche of the people is here." 

From that time until the election in November, every city, town 
and hamlet kept up the highest pitch of excitement and enthusiasm 
by mass meetings, barbecues, log cabins, hard cider songs and 
processions. 

A topical song, sung in New York, we remember, ran after this 
order : 

" Oh ! if this state should go for Tip, 
Oh ! what would Matty do ? 
He'd rent his house in Washington, 
For Tippecanoe and Tyler, too ; 
And with them we'll beat little '^'an : 
Van is a used-up man, 
Van is a used-up man." 



THE WHITE HOUSE. 



91 



The result of all this effort was the discomfiture of the party in 
power. Mr. Van Buren received only sixty electoral votes, while 
General Harrison had two hundred and thirty-four. We have 
hinted at some of the extravagancies of Van Buren's administra- 
tion, and the refurnishing of the White House. It was said by 
old chroniclers that " General Jackson filled the palace with the 
vulgar fumes of smoke from an old long pipe. Mr. Van Buren, at 
an expense of seven thousand dollars, cleaned the apartments, 
whitewashed the smoky ceilings and filled it with preciseness and 
cold pedantry ; that General Harrison would change the vulgarity 
of the one and the pretensions of the other. He would make 
those gorgeous halls reverberate with merry peals of laughter, 
refined repartee, excruciating anecdotes and good cheer." 

In 1836 General Harrison was first nominated for the Presi- 
dency. There were three candidates of the old Federal party in 
the field, which resulted in their own defeat, and Martin Van 
Buren was elected. In 1840 the Federal party had merged into 
the Whig party. After a campaign of most intense excitement, 
the long processions ceased their marching, the mottoed banners 
were laid aside, the log cabins had served their purpose, and the 
old Chieftain of North Bend was elected President, and John 
Tyler Vice-President. 

General Harrison arrived in Washington in February and was 
received with great enthusiasm. The morning of the 4th of March 
was ushered in by a salute of twenty-six guns. As on all inaugural 
occasions, the city was filled with strangers. 

The procession that accompanied General Harrison to the 
Capitol was a counterpart of many that had been seen throughout 
the campaign. The General was mounted on a white charger, 
escorted by officers and soldiers who had fought under his com- 
mand. Log cabins and canoes were once more brought into 
requisition and distributed along the line. The pageant was very 
imposing; the waving of handkerchiefs and the huzzas of the 
multitude gave tokens of a kindly welcome to the old hero. 

He entered upon the duties of his high office with as bright 
anticipations, as honest purposes and with as much of the confi- 
dence of the American people as any man who had occupied the 
position since Washington. But, almost before the glad tidings 



92 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

of the inauguration had reached the hamlets and log cabins of his 
supporters, the President had contracted a cold, followed by- 
pneumonia, from which he rapidly sank, until on April 4, just one 
month from the inaugural day, he breathed his last. 

This great national calamity fell upon the people with startling 
suddenness. The last words of the President were: "I wish you 
to understand and remember the principles that govern me and 
carry them out. I ask no more." 

The wife of President Harrison, nee Annie Symmes, was born 
in New Jersey, near Morristown, in the year of American Inde- 
pendence. Her father, Hon. John B. Symmes, was a colonel in 
the Continental Army. Her mother died soon after her birth. 
Her father had the care of her until she was four years of age ; he 
then disguised himself in a British officer's uniform and took her 
to Rhode Island to her grandmother. He did not see her again 
until after the evacuation of New York in 1783. She was educated 
at Mrs. Isabella Graham's school in New York. At the age of 
nineteen she bade adieu to her grandparents and moved to Ohio 
in 1794. Her father was Associate Judge of the Supreme Court 
of the Northwestern Territory, and was much from home holding 
court. During her father's absence Annie would spend a part of 
her time with her older sister, who was living in Lexington, Ky. 
It was on one of these visits that she first met Captain Harrison, 
of the United States Army, then in command of Fort Washington, 
where the city of Cincinnati now stands. In less than a year they 
were married, little dreaming that he would become the most pop- 
ular general of his time, and, still less, that he would some day be 
President of the United States. 

W? read of Mrs. Harrison that she was very handsome, with a 
face bright and full of animation. A friend, who was a school- 
mate, writes to her in 1840 : " I suppose that I should not recog- 
nize anything of your present countenance, for your early days 
have made such an impression on my mind, that I cannot realize 
any countenance for you, but that of your youth, with which 
nature had been so profusely liberal." 

General Harrison's duties, requiring his frequent absence from 
home, left Mrs. Harrison in care of a large family. There were 
no schools in that newly settled country, and she always employed 



THE WHITE HOUSE. 03 

a private tutor. She often opened her house to her neighbor's 
children, for she dispensed a generous hospitality. 

She was called to go through many trials that tested her char- 
acter and chastened her heart. One after another, her children 
were taken from her. She lost four sons and three dauo-hters, all 
of them settled in life. It was while passing through these trials 
that she wrote to her pastor : "And now what shall I say to these 
things : 'be still and know that I am God ? ' You will not fail to 
pray for me and my dear sons and daughters who are left, for I 
have no wish for them— my children and grandchildren— than to 
see them the humble followers of the Lord Jesus." 

Her health, delicate for years, was even more precarious the 
spring her husband made his journey to Washington. Her friends 
urged her to remain in Ohio until settled weather. While busy in 
her preparations to join him, the news came to her of his death. 

Had he lived, Mrs. Harrison, much as it was against her taste, 
would have discharged all the duties incumbent upon her with 
delicacy, courtesy and self-possession, for she was "to the manner 
born," and she was one of the sturdy women of the times, who did 
not look back when duty called. 

Mrs. Harrison lived to be nearly ninety years old. Many of 
her grandsons were officers and soldiers in the Union Army. She 
was always rich in blessings for these boys, and they asked for 
her prayers not in vain. To one she said : " Oh, no, my son, go ! 
Your country needs your service, I do not. Go and discharge 
your duty faithfully and fearlessly. I feel that my prayers in 
your behalf will be heard, and that you will return in safety." 

The grandson did return to his grandmother after several hard 
fought battles. 

On the evening of the 25th of February, 1864, she died, and 
was buried beside her husband at North Bend, and there after 
life's fitful dream has passed, they together sleep on the banks of 
the beautiful Ohio. 



CHAPTER IX. 

JOHN TYLER IN THE PRESIDENT'S HOUSE. 

Successor to General Harrison — Golden Allurements — Goes over to the 
Enemy — The "Thirty Pieces of Silver" — Political Death— Stepped three 
times into high Places through Luck — Mrs. Robert Tyler — A beautiful 
Woman — Trouble in paying Visits — Asks Mrs. Madison's Advice — Her 
Impressions of intellectual Giants — Her first State Dinner — Mr. Webster's 
Compliment — President Tyler a charming Host — The British Minister — 
Not an Adonis — The Levees at the White House — The Assemblies — Mrs. 
Robert Tyler's Description of an Assembly — Mr. Southard's Compliment 
to Mr. Cooper — The Velvet Dress of Mrs. Tyler compared with " Lady 
Randolph's" — Marriage of the Youngest Daughter — Music introduced in 
the Park — Description of a Levee — Authors of the S/cctc/i Book and Pick- 
wick Papers present — Charles Dickens' just and unjust Criticisms — The 

• distinguished Ambassador to Spain — The Player's Daughter — The silver 
Cord of Friendship — The land of the Troubadour — Mrs. Letitia Tyler's 
Death— Robert Tyler moves to Philadelphia — Mrs. Letitia Semple, Lady 
of the White House — President Tyler marries Miss Gardiner — A scouted 
Proposition — " Why don't you come yourself, John .> " — Mrs. Tyler's Pic- 
ture in the Green Room — President Tyler retires to Virginia — Enlists in 
the Confederate Cause — Death saves him from Service. 

As the legitimate successor, John Tyler was sworn in as Pres- 
ident immediately after the death of Harrison, but he was of a 
very different mind. The succession and its golden allurements, 
completely absorbed him. 

The unbiassed reader of events must own that however men may 
differ in their version of this administration. President Tyler 
accepted the platform and policy of the Whig party, when he 
allowed his name to be second on the ticket ; and no man, great 
or small, has ever yet been the representative of a party, and gone 
in exact contradiction to his instructions, without being consigned 
to a political death. 

Mr. Tyler now stepped for the third time into a place of high 

94 



JOHN TYLER IN THE PRESIDENT'S HOUSE. 95 

public trust l)y reason of the death of the incumbent. He was 
made Governor of Virginia by the death of the Executive ; he 
was made a senator by the death of a senator-elect ; and death 
made him President of the United States. 

Accidents, sometimes in a mysterious fashion, carry men to 
lofty pinnacles of fortune ; the breeze gets hold of them and car- 
ries them up to high places. It is the unexpected that happens, 
and without irreverence, we call it accident. Wealth, honor, place, 
distinction, the highest places of earth, are as a rule won by the 
nobleness of effort. 

But whatever actuated and governed the President's public life, 
it was largely atoned for in his domestic relations. Mrs. Robert 
Tyler and Miss Tyler accompanied the President to the White 
House. The President's wife was in very delicate health, and did 
not arrive in Washington until the weather became settled. 

Mrs. Robert Tyler is described as a very beautitul woman, ele- 
gant and accomplished, and admirably fitted to fill the high station 
of Lady of the White House, which the President had invited her 
to accept. Mrs. Tyler, from childhood, had been surrounded by 
the very best society in New York. She met Mr. Robert Tyler in 
Richmond, and within a year was married. She was a ready let- 
ter writer, and her correspondence gives a graphic description of 
her life in the White House. 

She writes in 1841 : *'What wonderful changes take place, my 
dearest M. Here am I, ne'e Priscilla Cooper, actually living and 
•what is more, presiding in the White House. I look at myself like 
the little old woman and exclaim, 'Can this be 1?' I have not 
had one moment to myself since my arrival, and the most extraor- 
dinary thing is, I feel as if I had been used to living here always. 
I received the Cabinet Ministers, the Diplomatic Corps, the heads 
of the Army and Navy, etc., etc., with a facility which astonishes 
me. ' Some achieve greatness, and some are born to it.' I 
occupy poor General Harrison's room. I have no superstitious 
feeling on the subject and it is as pleasant as possible ; the nice 
comfortable bedroom, with its handsome furniture and curtains, 
its luxuriant arm-chairs, and all its belongings I enjo\', I believe, 
more than anything else in the establishment. The greatest 
trouble I anticipate is in paying visits ; there was a doubt at first, 
whether I must visit in person, or send cards. 

" I asked Mrs. Madison's advice upon the subject and she says 



96 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

return all my visits by all means. So three days in the Week, I 
am to spend three hours a day, in driving from one street to 
another, in this city of " Magnificent Distances." The victim of 
this sacrifice is to be attired in a white chip bonnet, trimmed with 
moss-rose buds, from Lawson's in New York. 

" I could spend my time here charmingly, were it not for the 
duties of my situation. I see so many great men, and so con- 
stantly, that I cannot appreciate the blessing. I know you will think 
I ought to give you my impressions of these intellectual giants, 
instead of talking of dresses, bonnets, etc. The fact is when you 
meet them in every-day life, you forget that they are great men at 
all, and just find them the most charming companions in the 
world, talking the most delightful nonsense, especially Mr. Web- 
ster, who entertains me with the most charming gossip. 

"Washington, 1841. 

"My first state dinner is over; oh! such a long one, our first 
dinner in the state dining-room. I was the only lady at table. 
What with the long table, the flowers, and bright and brilliant 
dresses and orders of " Dips," not dip candles, 1 felt dreadfully 
confused. Mr. Webster says I acquitted myself admirably. I 
tried to be as cheerful as possible, though I felt miserable all the 
time, as my baby was crying, and I received message after mes- 
sage to come to the nursery. 

*' I think father is a charming host. He received his guests 
with so much courtesy and simplicity of manner, and I do not 
think his power of conversation was surpassed, or even equalled 
by those around him. 

" The British Minister, Mr. Fox, is frightful to behold ; he has 
the reputation of great ability." 

The levees at the President's House were alternated by the 
assemblies, which were held in the old theatre situated on the 
corner of Eleventh and D Streets, where a cheap theatre now 
stands. 

This theatre was built in 1804, but was burned down and after- 
wards rebuilt by the elder Carusi in 1822, who reconstructed it 
and named it the City Assembly Rooms. At these rooms were 
gathered the fashionable and the gay of Washington society. 
These were the most brilliant entertainments of the day. 

Mrs. Robert Tyler in 1842, gives in glowing colors the picture 
of one of these gatherings : 



JOHN TYLER IN THE PRESIDENT'S HOUSE. 97 

" I went to the Assembly last night, matronizing five young 
ladies all dressed in rose color, all so lovely too — Clementina 
Pleasanton, and Belle Stevenson, the prettiest of all. Belle has the 
most perfect figure and face I ever saw, and Miss Pleasanton has 
a style,/^ ne sais qiioi, about her that makes her the most attractive 
of the two. 

"The ball was a brilliant one, admirably lighted, and not 
crowded, the ladies all well dressed and showing to advantage. I 
spent a delightful evening. As I declined dancing I had the 
pleasure of talking to many grave senators, and among the rest, 
had a long conversation with Mr. Southard." (Samuel J. South- 
ard was Secretary of the Navy during John Q. Adams' administra- 
tion.) As we stood at the end of the room, which is the old theatre 
transferred into a ball-room, he said : ' On the very spot where we 
stand, I saw the best acting I ever witnessed. I came into the 
theatre and took my seat by John Q. Adams. There were never 
two more delighted people. Mr. Adams said he had seen the same 
play abroad, in France and England, John Kemble and the great 
Talma in the past, Kean, Cook, and Macready, but he had never 
seen it so admirably acted as then. I entirely agreed with him in 
his admiration, though I was not so capable of judging by com- 
parison as he.' 

" Mr. Southard here paused. Though my heart told me to whom 
he was alluding, I could not help asking him, ' What was the 
play and who was the actor ? ' 

" ' The play Avas ' Macbeth,' and the performer, Mr. Cooper.' 

" I could not restrain the tears that sprang to my eyes, as I heard 
my dear father so enthusiastically spoken of. I looked around, 
and thought, not only had papa's footsteps trod these boards, — I 
looked down at the velvet dress of Mrs. Tyler, and thought of the 
one I wore there, six years before, as Lady Randolph, when we 
struggled through a miserable engagement of a few rainy nights! " 

Elizabeth, the third daughter of Letitia Tyler, was married in 
the East Room of the White House, January 31, 1842, to Mr. 
William Waller, of Virginia. The wedding, which was at first 
intended to be a quiet afifair, was honored by the presence of 
many distinguished guests. 

The night following the wedding a grand reception was given 
It is said that one of the bridesmaids expressed surprise to Mr. 
Daniel Webster at Lizzie Tyler's accepting a quiet Virginia home 
in exchange for all the honors of position in Washington. " Ah ! " 
said he, " love rules the court, the camp, the grove ; for love is 
heaven, and heaven is love." 
7 



98 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

The President's wife was down-stairs on the occasion of her 
daughter's marriage, for the first time after entering the White 
House. 

It was during Tyler's administration that music was introduced 
in the park south of the mansion. 

Invitations by card to the President's house were considered 
as strictly private. The public press was not allowed to indulge 
in descriptions of persons present. 

In going over the files of the Madisonian, we find this modest 
description of a levee, which stands out as the lone star of society 
news of that day — the Alpha and Omega of all such indulgences. 

The Madisonian^ Washington, Monday, March I'jth, 1842. 

THE LAST LEVEE OF THE SEASON. 

" The levee held by the President, on Tuesday last, was a bril- 
liant affair, and gave satisfactory evidence of the esteem in which 
the high functionary is held in social circles. 

" Among the visitors of peculiar note were the distinguished 
authors of the 'Sketch Book' and ' Pickwick Papers.' In addi- 
tion to whom, almost all the ministers to foreign powers to our 
Government were in attendance in full court dress. 

" The rooms were filled to overflowing with the talent and 
beauty of the metropolis ; Senators and Members of Congress 
without distinction of party, served to give interest and add ani- 
mation to the scene. 

"It seems to us that these levees, as at present conducted, are 
peculiarly adapted to the genius of our republican institutions, 
inasmuch as all who please, may attend without infringement of 
etiquette. We almost regret their termination for the season, but 
look forward with pleasure to the period when they will be 
renewed." 

Charles Dickens, in his " American Notes," tells us of this 
levee, and also of his call upon President Tyler. His just, and 
the unjust criticisms which he lived to regret, are pictured in all 
the inelegance of which he was capable. 

" My first visit to this house was on the morning after my 
arrival, when I was carried thither by an official gentleman who 
was so kind as to charge himself with my presentation to the Pres- 
ident. We entered a very large hall, and having twice or thrice 
rung a bell which nobody answered, walked without further cere- 



[OHN TYLER IN THE PRESIDENT'S HOUSE. 99 

mony, through the rooms on the ground floor, as divers other 
gentlemen (mostly with their hats on and their hands in their 
pockets), were doing very leisurely. 

" Some of these had ladies with them, to whom they were show- 
ing the premises ; others were lounging on the chairs and sofas, 
others in a perfect state of exhaustion, and from listlessness were 
yawning drearily. 

" The greater portion of this assemblage were rather asserting 
their supremacy than doing anything else ; as they had no particu- 
lar business there that any one knew of. 

"A few were closely eying the movables as if to make quite 
sure that the President, who was far from popular, had not made 
way with any of the furniture, or sold the pictures for his private 
benefit. 

" After glancing at these loungers, who were scattered over a 
pretty drawing-room, opening upon a terrace which commanded a 
beautiful prospect of the river and the adjacent country, and who 
were sauntering to and fro about a larger state-room called the 
Eastern drawing-room, we went up stairs into another chamber, 
where were certain visitors waiting for audience. At sight of my 
conductor, a black, in plain clothes and yellow slippers, who was 
gliding noiselessly about and whispering messages in the ears of 
the more impatient, made a sign of recognition and glided off to 
announce him. 

" We had previously looked into another chamber, filled with a 
great bare wooden desk, or counter, whereon lay files of news- 
papers to which sundry gentlemen were referring. 

" But there was no such means as beguiling the time in this 
apartment, which was as unpromising and tiresome as any waiting 
room in any of our public establishments, or any physician's wait- 
ing-room, during his hours of consultation at home, 

"There were some fifteen or twenty persons in the room; one, 
a tall, wiry, muscular old man from the West, sunburnt and 
swarthy, with a brown white hat on his knee and a giant umbrella 
resting between his legs, who sat bolt upright in his chair, frown- 
ing steadily at the carpet, and twitching the hard lines about his 
mouth, as if he had made up his mind 'to fix' the President on 
what he had to say and wouldn't bate him a grain. 

" Another, a Kentucky farmer, six feet in height, with his hat 
on and his hands under his coat-tails, who leaned against the wall 
and kicked the floor with his heel as though he had Time's head 
under his shoe and were literally ' killing ' him. A third, an oval- 
faced, bilious looking man, with sleek black hair cropped close, 
and whiskers and beard shaved down to blue dots, who sucked 
the head of a thick stick, and, from time to time, took it out of his 
mouth to see how it was getting on. A fourth did nothing but 



lOO HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON: 

whistle. A fifth did nothing but spit, and, indeed, all these gen- 
tlemen were so very persevering and energetic in this latter partic- 
ular, and bestowed their favors so abundantly on the carpet that I 
take it for granted the Presidential housemaids have high wages, 
or, to speak more genteelly, an ample amount of ' compensation,' 
which is the American word for salary in the case of all public 
servants. 

" We had not waited many minutes before the black messenger 
returned and conducted us into another room of smaller dimen- 
sions, where at a business-like table covered with papers, sat the 
President himself. He looked somewhat worn and anxious, and 
well might he, being at war with everybody ; but the expression 
of his face was mild and pleasant, and his manner was remarkably 
unaffected, gentlemanly and agreeable. I thought that in his 
whole carriage and demeanor he became his station singularly 
Avell. 

" Being advised that the sensible 'etiquette of the Republican 
Court admitted of a traveller, like myself, declining, without any 
impropriety, an invitation to dinner, which did not reach me until 
I had concluded my arrangements for leaving Washington, some 
days before that to which I referred, I only returned to this house 
once. It was on the occasion of one of those general assemblies 
which are held on certain nights, between the hours of nine and 
twelve o'clock, and are called rather oddly, levees. 

"I went with my wife about ten. There was a pretty dense 
crowd of carriages and people in the court-yard, and as far as I 
could make out, there were no very clear regulations for the taking 
up, or setting down of company. There were certainly no police- 
men to soothe startled horses, either sawing upon their bridles, or 
flourishing truncheons in their eyes; and I am ready to make oath 
that no inoffensive persons were knocked violently on the head, 
or poked acutely on their backs, or stomachs, or brought to a 
standstill by any such gentle means, and then taken into custody 
for not moving on. But there was no confusion and no disorder. 
Our carriage reached the porch in its turn without any blustering, 
swearing, shouting, backing, or other disturbance, and we dis- 
mounted with as much ease and comfort as though we had been 
escorted by the whole Metropolitan force from A to Z inclusive. 

" The suite of rooms on the ground floor was lighted up, and a 
military band was playing in the hall. In the smaller drawing- 
room, the centre of a circle of company, were the President, his 
daughter-in-law, who acted as the lady of the mansion, and a very 
interesting, graceful and accomplished lady, too. 

" One gentleman who stood among this group, appeared to 
take upon himself the function of a master of the ceremonies. I 
saw no other officers, or attendants, and none were needed. 



JOHN TYLER IN THE PRESIDENT'S HOUSE. lOI 

" The great drawing-room which I have already mentioned, and 
the other chambers on the ground floor, were crowded to excess. 
The company was not, in our sense of the term, select, for it com- 
prehended persons of very many grades and classes, nor was 
there any great display of costly attire : indeed, some of the cos- 
tumes may have been, for aught I know, grotesque enough. 

*' But the decorum and propriety of behavior which prevailed 
were "unbroken by any rude, or disagreeable incident, and every 
man, even among the miscellaneous crowd in the hall who were 
admitted without any tickets, or orders to look on, appeared to 
feel that he was part of the institution and was responsible for 
'preserving a becoming character and appearing to the best 
advantage. 

" That these visitors, too, whatever their station, were not 
without some refinement of taste and appreciation of intellectual 
gifts, and gratitude to those men who, by the peaceful exercise of 
great abilities, shed new charms and associations upon the homes 
of their countrymen, and elevate their character in other lands, 
was most earnestly testified by the reception of Washington 
Irving, my dear friend, who had recently been appointed Minister 
at the Court of Spain, and who was among them that night in his 
new character, for the first and last time, before going abroad, 

" I sincerely believe that in all the madness of American poli- 
tics, few public men would have been so earnestly, devotedly and 
affectionately caressed as this most charming writer; and I have 
seldom respected a public assembly more than I did this eager 
throng, when I saw them turning with one mind from noisy ora- 
tors and officers of state, and flocking with a generous, honest 
impulse round the man of quiet pursuits, proud of his promotion 
as reflecting back upon their country ; and grateful to him with 
their whole hearts for the store of graceful fancies he had poured 
out among them. Long may he dispense such treasures with 
unsparing hand and long may they remember him as worthily." 

A New York paper says of this occasion : " When it was 
I known that there would be a levee, and that Irving and Dickens 
would both be there, the rush was tremendous. It was as much 
as the police officers could do to keep the passages open. Even 
the circle usually left open around the Chief Magistrate, was nar- 
rowed to almost nothing by the pressure. It was computed that 
the East Room alone contained upwards of three thousand persons, 

"All eyes were turned toward that part of the room occupied 
by Washington Irving and the lady who presided on this occasion 
with surpassing courteousness and grace — Mrs. Robert Tyler. 

"Irving, now 'grown more fat than bard beseems,' is still 
distinguished by that glow of genius and humor in his eye and 



102 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON: 

smile, and utterance which made him the adored of the New York 
world of fashion. 

" Washington Irving is at the Executive Mansion, now not as 
Washington Irving, but as the Embassador to Spain. 

" Who is that lady receiving such homage from the new Embas- 
sador ? She is a player's daughter, but a President's daughter, 
also, and is welcoming from her elevation her mother's friend of 
bygone years — the Embassador now created by her father." 

And so it came through the silver cord of friendship that the 
genius of the " Alhambra," the " Sketch Book," and " Rip Van 
Winkle," visited again the sunny land of the troubadour ; the land 
of poetry and song, where he had gathered many pearls of 
thought ; the land of the past, living on her faded glories and 
imagining that she is one of the grand old knights of other days. 

Mrs. Robert Tyler continued in the role of honor until after 
Mrs. Letitia Tyler's death, which occurred September lo, 1842. 
This was the second time death winged a fatal shaft at the palace 
of the President. 

Mr. Robert Tyler, at this time, made business arrangements in 
Philadelphia, and Mrs. Letitia Semple, the second daughter of 
the President, assumed the duties of Lady of the White House, 
which she filled until May, 1844. On the 26th of June, 1844, 
President Tyler was married to Miss Julia Gardiner. 

Miss Gardiner was the daughter of a wealthy gentleman of 
Gardiner's Island, New York. Mr. Gardiner and daughter were 
on board the ill-fated Princeton, and Mr. Gardiner was one of the 
five killed. 

Miss Gardiner entered society when very young, and it seems 
that Governors, Senators and Judges were suitors for her hand ; 
yet she remained heart-whole and fancy-free until she met Presi- 
dent Tyler. She was charming in conversation, entrancing old 
and young by her winsome manner. 

The President's suit was successful. It was his proposition to 
have the nuptials celebrated in the White House, but it was not 
considered for a moment by Miss Gardiner. She felt that the 
pantomimes of royalty had no place in a democratic government. 
When the President arrived in New York on June 25th, numer- 
ous and varied were the current rumors. The next day the 



JOHN TYLER IN THE PRESIDENT'S HOUSE. 103 

mystery was over. Miss Gardiner and President Tyler were mar- 
ried in the Church of the Ascension, in Fifth Avenue, New York, 
in the presence of a limited number of friends. 

From this time until the expiration of President Tyler's admin- 
istration, Mrs. Tyler presided at the White House. Visitors to 
the Executive Mansion to-day will see, hanging in the Green 
Room, a beautiful portrait of Mrs. Tyler. During General Grant's 
administration she returned to Washington, and has since spent 
more or less time at the capital; and while the years that have 
passed over her head have borne away her youth, still the same 
dignified bearing makes her the observed of all observers 
wherever she appears. 

President Tyler retired from public life at the close of his 
administration, and returned to his home in Virginia. For seven- 
teen years he lived in retirement, until the war of the Rebellion, 
when he enlisted in the cause of the Confederacy against the 
Government ; but death saved him from active service. He died 
in 1862. 



CHAPTER X. 

THE WHITE HOUSE DURING THE ADMINISTRATIONS OF JAMES K. 
POLK AND ZACHARY TAYLOR. 

Fourteen Years in Congress — Anxious Days and wearisome Nights — A lead- 
ing Point — Mexican War — Oregon Shibboleth — Mrs, Polk a Woman of 
rare Excellence — Anecdote of Henry Clay — Polk surrounded by great 
Men — Letter of Daniel Webster to Daniel S. Dickinson — A characteristic 
Answer — Impressive Scene on the Floor of the House — Death of John 
Quincy Adams — His last Words — The last Levee of President Polk — 
Retires into Obscurity — Mrs. Polk's Portrait — Ex-Presidents' Widows' 
Bounty — The Unexpected that Happens — General Popularity — From 
whence it came — The New England Wing — " Old Rough and Ready " — 
" My House is my Tent and my Home the Battle-field " — Admission of 
California — Mr. Clay's " Compromise Bill " — The President's fatal Ill- 
ness — " Betty Bliss " — Beautiful Women and Brilliant Men in Washing- 
ton—Death of the President— Mrs. Taylor returns to Kentucky— New 
Scenes and new Actors. 

James K. Polk was elected the eleventh President of the 
United States. He had represented his people fourteen years in 
Congress; in 1836 he was Speaker of the House of Representa- 
tives. His studious habits and his manly bearing had peculiarly 
fitted him for the positions he had filled, but the office of Presi- 
dent brought him little happiness. 

Undoubtedly Mr. Polk had the great interests of the country at 
heart ; but many of the foremost statesmen of the land differed 
with the President in his views — and the policy he wished carried 
out, and the vital questions of the day were not settled in accord- 
ance with his wishes. Anxious days and wearisome nights were 
his inheritance. 

The slavery question entered into this election as a leading 
issue. The Republic of Texas asked admission into the Union. 
Many of the people objected, as it was certain to be a slave State ; 

104 



THE WHITE HOUSE. 10$ 

while others favored it. Strict party lines were drawn ; the Dem- 
ocrats favoring, the Whigs opposing. 

Texas was annexed by sending a small force down to the Rio 
Grande, and this policy involved the nation in a war which was 
never designed. It was expected that the Mexicans would hur- 
riedly sue for peace. But instead, a war ensued that made mili- 
tary reputations for the Whig generals. 

The President's Oregon shibboleth of "fifty-four forty, or 
fight," had to be retracted ; while his desire for centralization of 
power for internal improvements, must needs give place to state 
rights, or slavery would be disturbed ; and to this end he gave his 
influence. But his days were full of care and he wore an anxious 
look. 

Happily for him, his wife was a woman of rare excellence ; 
a wise and affectionate counsellor, cheerful and agreeable, 
possessed of the happy art of infusing cheerfulness into those 
around her. 

Among the many public men who held Mrs. Polk in high 
esteem, was Henry Clay. On one occasion, when in her 
presence, Mr. Clay turned to her and said, in those winning tones 
so peculiar to him : " Madam, I must say that in my travels, 
wherever I have been, and in all companies and among all 
parties, I have heard but one opinion of you. All agree in 
commending in highest terms your excellent administration of the 
affairs of the White House. But," continued he, looking toward 
her husband, '* as for that young man there, I cannot say as much. 
There is some little difference of opinion in regard to the policy 
of his course." 

"Indeed," said Mrs. Polk, " I am glad to hear that my admin- 
istration is so popular, and in return for your compliment, I will 
say that if the country should elect you next fall, I know of no 
one whose election would please me more than that of Henry 
Clay. I will assure you of one thing, if you do have occasion to 
occupy the White House on the fourth of March next, it will be 
surrendered to you in perfect order from garret to cellar." 

" Thank you, thank you," exclaimed Mr. Clay. 

Mr, Polk was surrounded b}'^ men who originated great and 
salutary public measures, that not only commanded the respect 



I06 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

and gratitude of the nation, but cast around him a high-toned, 
healthy moral influence. Among these were Henry Clay, Daniel 
Webster, Daniel S. Dickinson, Lewis Cass, John C. Calhoun, 
John Quincy Adams and William H. Seward. 

One writer says : " I saw Calhoun in Washington in the spring 
of 1846, calm amidst the strife and hurry of political warfare. I 
saw Henry Clay in May following, in Kentucky, serene in the 
mild majesty of private life ; Clay and Calhoun, the master spirits 
of America ! Clay's very name is a spell. No sooner is it heard 
than all mankind rise up to praise it." 

During this administration the tall and stately form of Daniel 
S. Dickinson was first seen upon the floor of the Senate. From 
this time he occupied a front rank among the greatest of those 
who have labored for the unsullied preservation of the Constitu- 
tion, in the halls of Congress; and even of his brilliant compeers 
in the forum, nearly all of whom have passed to a sacred inheri- 
tance, few ever attained such unqualified power over popular 
assemblies and individuals. 

His unwearied devotion to the highest interests of the nation, 
and the earnest inspiration of his brain had very much to do with 
breaking and quelling certain insurrections at the North, and plac- 
ing before the people the true condition of the country during the 
rebellion. 

He was one to whom our country might safely turn for the 
protection of her flag, her constitution and her honor in any hour 
of peril which might await her. 

It will be remembered by many that Mr. Webster, though 
opposed to Mr. Dickinson upon most of the great issues of the 
country, from 1830 to 1850 (these gentlemen being leaders of 
opposite parties) tendered to his Democratic colleague upon his 
retiring from the Senate, the following complimentary letter : 

"Washington, September 27, 1850. 
"My Dear Sir :— 

" Our companionship in the Senate is dissolved. After this long 
and important session you are about to return to your home and 
I shall try to find leisure to visit mine. I hope we may meet each 
other again two months hence, for the discharge of our duties in 
our respective stations in the Government. But life is uncertain 



THE WHITE HOUSE. \oj 

and I have not felt willing to take leave of you without placing in 
your hands a note containing a few words which I wish to say to 
you, 

" In the earlier part of our acquaintance, my dear sir, occur- 
rences took place which I remember with constantly increasing 
regret and pain ; because the more I have known you, the greater 
has been my esteem for your character, and my respect for your 
talents. But it is your noble, able, manly and patriotic conduct 
in support of the great measures of this session which has entirely 
won my heart and receives my highest regard. I hope you may 
live long to serve your country, but I do not think you are ever 
likely to see a crisis in which you may be able to do so much 
either for your distinction, or for the people's good. 

" You have stood where others have fallen ; you have advanced 
with firm and manly step where others have wavered, faltered and 
fallen back ; and for one, I desire to thank you and to commend 
your conduct out of the fulness of my honest heart. 

" This letter needs no reply : it is, I am aware, of very little 
value, but I have thought you might be willing to receive it, and 
perhaps, to leave it where it would be seen by those who come 
after you. 

" I pray you, when you reach your own threshold, to remember 
me most kindly to your wife and daughter, and I remain, my dear 
sir, 

"Your friend and obedient servant, 

' Daniel Webster." 

To this kind, friendl}^, commendatory letter, Mr. Dickinson 
made the following equally kind and friendly response : 

" BiNGHAMTON, Octobcf 5, 185O. 

" My Dear Sir :— 

" I perused and re-perused the beautiful note you placed in my 
hand, as I was about leaving Washington, with deeper emotion 
than I have ever experienced, except under some domestic vicissi- 
tudes. 

" Since I learned the noble and generous qualities of your 
nature, the unfortunate occurrence in our earlier acquaintance, to 
which you refer, has caused me many moments of painful regret, 
and your confiding communication has furnished a powerful illus- 
tration of the truth that, ' to err is human, to forgive divine.' 

" Numerous and valuable are the testimonials of confidence 
and regard which a somewhat extended acquaintance and 
lengthened public service have gathered around me ; but among 
them all, there is none to which my heart clings so fondly as this. 



I08 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

I have presented it to my family and friends, as the proudest 
passage in the history of an eventful life, and shall transmit it to 
my posterity as a sacred and cherished memento of friend- 
ship. 

" I thank Heaven that it has fallen to my lot to be associated 
with yourself and others, to resist the mad current which threat- 
ened to overwhelm us, and the recollection that my course upon a 
question so momentous has received the approbation of the most 
distinguished of American statesmen, has more than satisfied my 
ambition. 

" Believe me, my dear sir, that of all the patriots who came for- 
ward, in an evil day, for their country, there was no voice so poten- 
tial as your own. Others could buffet the dark and angry waves, 
but it was your strong arm that could will them back from the 
holy citadel. 

" May the beneficent Being who holds the destiny of men and 
nations, long spare you to the public service, and may your vision 
never rest upon the disjointed fragments of a convulsed and ruined 
confederacy. 

" I pray you to extend to Mrs. Webster the kind remembrances 
of myself and family, and believe me 

" Sincerely yours, 

" D. S. Dickinson." 

The venerable John Q. Adams had been stricken down at his 
home in Quincy, by paralysis, on account of which he was unable 
to take his seat when Congress convened. 

On the 13th day of February, 1846, Mr. Hunt, of New York, was 
making a speech in support of the Wilmot Proviso bill, when the 
venerable form of ex-President Adams appeared in the door of 
the House, and at once attracted all eyes. 

Mr. Hunt suspended his speech. Mr. Mosely of New York, 
and Mr. Holmes of South Carolina, advanced to meet Mr. Adams, 
and, each taking him by the arm, led him to the seat he had for 
many years occupied. Members gathered around the venerable 
man with congratulations on his return. 

After a short pause, much affected by the cordiality of his 
reception by the House, he rose and in his feeble voice briefly 
tendered his heartfelt thanks. 

^ Washington in the winter of 1846, was gay with parties and 
balls, until the death and funeral of this great and good ex-Presi- 
dent, which occurred in February, Public business was sus- 



THE WHITE HOUSE. 



109 



pended, flags were at half-mast and a general gloom pervaded the 
city. He was stricken down in his seat in the House and was re- 
moved to the Speaker's room. He lingered two days. His wife, 
who for fifty years had shared with him his hopes, his fears, his 
joys, hung over him during these last painful hours. 

His last words are said to have been : " If this is the last of 
earth, I am content." 

During the closing weeks of President Polk's administration, 
he gave a dinner party to the President elect, General Zachary 
Taylor, followed by a brilliant levee in the evening. At this, 
friends, acquaintances and dignitaries assembled to pay their last 
respects to the President and his wife. 

Mr. Polk's administration was characterized by no signal bril- 
liancy, politically, or socially ; and he returned to Tennessee to 
relapse, like all ex-officials, even ex-Chief Magistrates, into the 
humdrum, routine of private life. 

Mrs. Polk has been the recipient of much distinguished consid- 
eration. Her portrait hangs in the Green Room at the White 
House, and represents her as the modest, handsome woman she 
was. 

During the late Rebellion she received the protection of both 
armies ; and from the bounty of five thousand dollars per annum, 
given to the widows of ex-Presidents, she lived comfortably and 
well. 

^ ^ ?lr TT ^ TT 

It is the unexpected that we often find happening in politics. In 
a Government, like ours, where the popular will selects its candi- 
dates for the highest office within its gift, as often from those 
who suddenly come into popularity as from those who have by 
honest integrity worked their way to fame, step by step. Presi- 
dential honors do not always fall to those born to the wearing of 
them. 

For brilliant military achievements in the Indian and Mexican 
wars. General Taylor had become so popular that his election to 
the Presidency in 1848, was a foregone conclusion, notwithstand- 
ing the divisions in the Whig party, and the prejudice existing 
against him as a slaveholder. 

The New England wing of his party, headed by Mr. Webster, 



no HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

strenuously opposed him on that ground ; and because of his want 
of refinement and experience in national affairs, called him " an 
ignorant frontier colonel." His cognomen, "Old Rough and 
Ready," told the story of his popularity. 

He had no desire for the position, and his characteristic reply, 
when he received the official announcement, was : " For more than 
a quarter of a century my house has been the tent and my home 
the battle-field." 

The platform he announced as the only one he was willing to 
stand upon was : " I have no private purposes to accomplish, no 
party projects to build up, no enemies to punish, nothing to serve 
but my country." 

He had done so well in the field that the majority of the peo- 
ple felt sure of his administrative ability, notwithstanding his pro- 
slavery principles. In the bitter controversy over the admission 
of California, as an additional free State, which would give a 
majority of one to the anti-slaveholding States, President Taylor 
stood squarely by the people in their right to form state constitu- 
tions to suit themselves, and believed that they should be admitted 
into the Union, with, or without slavery, as their constitutions 
might prescribe. 

Upon a threat of revolt, he declared that if that standard were 
raised, he would himself take the field to suppress it, at the head 
of an army of volunteers, and should not, for that purpose, deem 
it necessary to call upon a single soldier from the North. This 
patriotic position had a very quieting effect upon the turbulent 
spirits behind these revolutionary movements. Mr, Clay came 
forward with a compromise measure for the settlement of all differ- 
ences growing out of the slavery question. This served as oil on 
the troubled waters, as did his Missouri Compromise bill of 1821. 
From this memorable discussion came the Fugitive Slave law, and 
bills admitting California to the Union, organizing the territories of 
New Mexico and Utah without restriction as to slavery, and pro- 
hibiting the slave trade in the District of Columbia. 

While the excitement was running high and the discussions on 
Mr. Clay's proposition were at the highest pitch, both in Congress 
and among the people, the President was stricken with a fever 
that terminated fatally after an illness of five days. 



THE WHITE HOUSE. i j j 

_ So brief was his life in the White House that, Hke General Har- 
rison, he made little impression on the social world, and little 
change in the appointments of the Executive Mansion, leaving the 
glory won in the field as his legacy to his family and country. 

It was during this administration that the secession party in the 
South first manifested itself outside South Carolina. 

Few receptions were given at the Executive Mansion; but 
" Betty Bliss," daughter of the President, reigned as lady of the 
White House, where she entertained her friends with affable grace. 
Mrs. Taylor received her friends in private apartments, for which 
she was criticised by the opposition. 

The beautiful, cultured women, who were then dwelling in Wash- 
ington, with the brilliant men in Congress, added splendor to soci- 
ety, and the second winter of President Taylor's administration 
augured a year of remarkable brilliancy ; but the death of the 
President, which occurred July 9th, threw a pall over the city and 
the White House was again in mourning. 

After Mrs. Taylor retired from the White House, accompanied 
by her daughter and her daughter's husband, Major Bliss, they 
found a home in Kentucky for a time. She then removed to Pas- 
cagoula, Louisiana, where two years later, August, 1852, she died. 

Major Bliss died suddenly soon after, and " Betty Bliss," as she 
will always be known to her countrymen, sought the seclusion of 
private life. 

When we think of the bright young bride of twenty-two, who 
brought sunshine and happiness into this home of the Presidents, 
we can scarcely picture what the artist, Time, has wrought— 
a woman stricken in years, with silvered hair, walks the winding 
paths alone, while new scenes and new actors are before the 
national footlights. 



CHAPTER XI. 

MILLARD FILLMORE, FRANKLIN PIERCE AND JAMES BUCHANAN IN 
THE WHITE HOUSE. 

Millard Fillmore sworn in as President — Meager Opportunities of his Youth — 
His Indefatigable Industry — Rapid Ascendency — Master of official Eti- 
quette — A Woman of rare Attainments — Abigail Fillmore — Where she 
met Mr. Fillmore — When married — She was a Teacher while he studied 
Law — A Member of the State Legislature — A Struggle with Poverty — No 
Dream of the White House — They worked hand in hand — Enter the White 
House — The first Library in the White House — The Family Room — Mr. 
Fillmore's Devotion to his Wife — Signs the Fugitive Slave Bill — His only 
unpopular Measure — Extension of the Capitol — Address of Daniel Web- 
ster — Henry Clay's Death — Pen Picture of Mary Abigail Fillmore — A 
rare Type of Woman — Death of Mrs. Fillmore — Closing Scenes of an ex- 
piring Congress — A bad Debtor — The Fortieth Congress a Thing of the 
Past — Inauguration of Franklin Pierce — His Nomination a Surprise — A 
lucky Star attended him — Inauguarted with Pomp and Ceremony — Mrs. 
Pierce carried the burden of a great Sorrow — With Dignity and Grace she 
met the Demands of the White House — A Passive President — Leaves an 
unfortunate Legacy to his Successor — The Shadowy Days of President 
Buchanan's Administration — A Rift in the Clouds — Lovely Harriet Lane 
— Miss Lane an Orphan — Adopted by her Uncle — At the Court of St. 
James — Greatly admired in Europe — Miss Lane as a Country Girl — The 
White House with Miss Lane at its Head — A Reflection — President Bu- 
chanan harassed and troubled — Miss Lane unmoved and steadfast — Visit 
of the Prince of Wales — Letter from Queen Victoria — A Peace Conven- 
tion — A dismembered Cabinet — Buchanan's Administration ends in Con- 
fusion and Dismay. 

Millard Fillmore, Vice-President of the United States, was 
sworn in as President the loth of July, 1848, after the death of 
Zachary Taylor, which occurred the day previous. 

Notwithstanding the meagre opportunities of his youth, by inde- 
fatigable industry and close application to study, he had acquired 
a good education. In the various positions to which he had been 

XX2 



WniTE HOUSE. 



113 



exalted, in his rapid rise to the highest place within the gift of the 
people, he had become master of ofificial etiquette and its require- 
ments, and hence had assumed' the duties of Chief Magistrate, 
prepared for its grave responsibilities and perplexities. 

Mrs. Taylor's place in the White House was filled by a woman 
of rare attainments. Abigail Fillmore was one of the representa- 
tive women of the day, of high intellectual culture, backed by a 
fund of original common sense. She was the daughter of a 
clergyman who died while she was in her infancy. Her maiden 
name was Abigail Powers. She was born at Bemis Heights, 
Saratoga County, New York, March, 1798. 

When she was nine years old her mother moved into Cayuga 
County. Abigail was studious and industrious. She fully 
appreciated the needs of her mother's family, left with scanty 
means. She rose by her ambition, making rapid progress in 
knowledge, and. began teaching at an early age. 

It was here, in this district school, that she met the lad, Millard 
Fillmore, who was an apprentice to the carding and cloth-dress- 
ing business which brought a few months schooling, yearly, as a 
recompense. 

The unfortunate choice of an occupation for the boy, made by 
the father, galled and fettered him, but Miss Powers rendered him 
efficient help. 

I well remember, when a child, hearing a neighbor of ours 
relate the interesting story of their lives. He was a pupil also in 
this district school and was a witness to the helping hand she 
held out to the aspiring lad.' While they were teacher and pupil 
the midnight oil often found them delving into the hidden 
recesses of knowledge. 

In due time they were married, moved to Aurora, New York, 
and set up housekeeping in a small house — Mr. Fillmore being 
its architect and carpenter. 

She at once resumed her teaching with her housekeeping, while 
her husband practised his profession of law, untrammelled by 
household needs, for his wife supplied all domestic demands. 

Two years later he was elected a member of the State Legisla- 
ture. In these first years of struggle with poverty and increasing 
cares, they never faltered, no duty was a burden. Thus, hand 
8 



I 14 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON: 

in hand, they worked together and arose from obscurity to 
eminence. 

In this little cottage, in a country village, her moral and affec- 
tionate nature broadened. But no dream of the White House 
entered there, and when it came as a part of her life, she would 
have preferred the seclusion of her own home, which was far 
dearer to her than all the glitter and adulation that awaited them. 

She entered the White House with the same self-possession for 
which she had been conspicuous in her humble home. In stature 
she was above the medium height ; her form was symmetrical, 
with complexion delicately fair, laughing blue eyes, bright auburn 
curling hair, and a fascinating and dignified manner. 

The first great want that met Mrs. Fillmore when she entered 
the White House, was that of books, for not one was found there- 
in. This, to one of her tastes and habits, was a great depriva- 
tion. 

Mr. Fillmore asked for an appropriation by Congress which was 
granted. The library at the White House was thus inaugurated. 
We are told, that in this room Mrs. Fillmore surrounded herself 
with little home comforts. Here, her daughter had her piano, 
harp and guitar. They received the informal visits of the friends 
they loved ; and, for them, the real enjoyment and pleasure of the 
White House was within this room. 

She was always present at public receptions and state dinners, 
when her health would permit, and, probably, at no time during 
the administration was she so happy as on the 3d of March, 1853, 
when the official term was ended. A journey had been planned 
through the Southern States, but a few days previous to the day 
set for their departure, she was taken suddenly ill and died at 
Willard's hotel in March, 1853. 

It is said of Mr. Fillmore's devotion to his wife, that he care- 
fully preserved every line she ever wrote to him, and that he 
could never destroy even the little notes she sent him on business 
to his office. 

Mr. Fillmore lost the support of a very large proportion of his 
party, in the Northern States, by signing the Fugitive Slave law. 
That can truthfully be said to be the only unpopular measure of 
his administration. His purity as a public man is unquestionable. 



THE WHITE HOUSE. 115 

It is a pity that the ghost of a second term will lure men on to 
favor measures of policy rather than principle ; but it so often 
proves to be the death knell of their political careers that the 
safety of the country is not jeopardized. 

During his administration Congress made an appropriation for 
the extension of the Capitol, according to a plan offered by the 
President. This plan was given in 1851. Two wings were to be 
added to the previous edifice, connected by corridors. 

The corner-stone was laid July 4th, by the President's own 
hands, with imposing ceremonies. The great assembly was 
addressed by Daniel Webster. The President was assisted in lay- 
ing the corner-stone by the Grand Master of the Masonic Lodge 
of Alexandria, who wore the same regalia and used the gavel 
which Washington had used fifty-eight years before, in laying 
the corner-stone of the original edifice. There can be seen also, 
in the rooms of Washington Lodge, Alexandria, the candlesticks 
that were carried in the procession. 

It was during President Fillmore's administration that the great 
Henry Clay breathed his last, June 29, 1852. He died at the 
National hotel where he had long made his home. 

By his death the country lost one of its most eminent citizens 
and statesmen, and probably its greatest genuis. 

The history of this country could not be written without weaving 
into it the story of Henry Clay's services as a statesman, for they 
are inseparably connected with it. The true historian will find 
ample material to fill pages of American history with the thoughts 
and actions of this man. The record will pass from generation to 
generation, as a portion of our national inheritance, incapable of 
being destroyed, as long as genius has an admirer, or liberty a 
friend. 

Mary Clemmer, with graceful touch, has left this pen picture of 
the daughter of the President, Mary Abigail Fillmore. 

"She was the rarest and most exquisite President's daughter 
that ever shed sunshine in the White House. She survived her 
mother but one year, dying of cholera at the age of twenty-two ; 
yet her memory is a benison to all young American women, espe- 
cially to those surrounded by the allurements of society and high 
station. 



1 1 6 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

" She was not only the mistress of man)' accomplishments, but 
possessed a thoroughly practical education. She was trained at 
home, at Mrs. Sedgwick's school in Lenox, Massachusetts, and 
was graduated at the State Normal school, New York, as a 
teacher, and taught in the public schools in Buffalo. She was a 
French, German and Spanish scholar, was a proficient in music, and 
an amateur sculptor, 

" She was the rarest type of woman, in whom was blended, in 
perfect proportion, masculine judgment and feminine tenderness. 
In her was combined intellectual force, vivacity of temperament, 
genuine sensibility and deep tenderness of heart. Words cannot 
tell what such a nature and such an intelligence would be if called 
to preside over the social life of the nation's house. She used her 
opportunities as the President's daughter, to minister to others. 
She clung to all her old friends without any regard to their posi- 
tion in life. Her time and talents were devoted to their happiness. 
She was constantly thinking of some little surprise, some gift, 
some journey, some pleasure by which she could contribute to the 
happiness of others. 

" After the death of her mother she went to the desolate home of 
her father and brother, and emulating the example of that mother, 
relieved her father of all household care. Her domestic and so- 
cial qualities equalled her intellectual powers. She gathered all 
her early friends about her; she consecrated herself to the hap- 
piness of her father and brother ; she filled her home with sun- 
shine. With scarcely an hour's warning the final summons came. 
' Blessing she was, God made her so ; ' and in her passed away one 
of the rarest of young American women." 

The night of the third of March, 1853, found the capital in an up- 
roar with bands of music, thunder of guns, and the heavens bright 
with fireworks. The closing hours of Congress brought the same 
rush, push, and confusion worse confounded, that too often distin- 
guished the capital upon these occasions. 

Sleepers and loungers upon the couches and in the anterooms, 
were hauled in, in time to vote when a bill was up. Through the 
blue tobacco atmosphere. Congressmen could be discerned, here 
and there, who had held their positions for hours in hopes of recog- 
nition. The hands of the clock pointed to twelve, the gavel fell, 
and with it the hopes of many. The Fortieth Congress was a thing 
of the past. The President was busy signing bills until the small 
hours. On the morning of the fourth, the city was alive with prep- 
arations for the inauguration of President Pierce. 



THE WHITE HOUSE. 



117 



The nomination of Franklin Pierce for the Presidency was as 
much a surprise to him as to the leaders of his party. In the ri- 
valry between such political aspirants as James Buchanan, Lewis 
Cass, William L. Marcy and Stephen A. Douglas, the nomination 
of so unaggressive a politician as Franklin Pierce had not been 
anticipated, or thought of, by either of them. 

At the convention held in Baltimore, June 12, 1852, on the 
forty-ninth ballot, Franklin Pierce was made the nominee. 

Party discipline was at its height in those days, and at the elec- 
tion in November he received the vote of every State but four. 

His life had been a busy one ; entering into politics, he was 
elected to the Legislature when twenty-five years old, and elected 
Speaker two years afterwards. He was sent to Congress in 1833, 
and to the United States Senate in 1837, barely eligible to that 
position. The same lucky star attended him through the Mexican 
war, and now crowned him with the Presidency. In all these posi- 
tions he had discharged his duty with much credit to himself and 
his country ; but he was not a great man, notwithstanding his 
phenomenal success. 

His inauguration was attended with much pomp and ceremony, 
on account of the military glory won in the Mexican war. 

With marshals and music, cheers and handkerchiefs, ministers 
in court glitter, congressmen and civilians, the new President was 
inaugurated. The night was brilliant with balls and merry-making. 

Mrs. Pierce entered the White House bearing the burden of a 
great sorrow. Just previous to her husband's election she had 
witnessed her only child, a bright boy of twelve, crushed to death 
in a railroad accident. 

Under this bereavement and in delicate health, she entered the 
White House ; but during her residence there, her grief did not in- 
terfere with her duties socially, or officially. She met the de- 
mands of the White House with grace and dignity. There was 
innate repose and gentleness in her manner. When she left she 
was revered and loved by all who had ever come under the influ- 
ence of her gentle, and exquisite nature. 

So passive and timid was President Pierce, politically, that he 
left the Presidential chair without having advocated a single meas- 
ure, or done aught to solve the vexed problems that were rapidly 



1 1 8 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

approaching solution, leaving to his unfortunate successor, James 
Buchanan, a legacy of inextricable troubles. 

In going back to the shadowy days that hung over this Republic 
during the administration of President Buchanan, we cannot touch 
upon a page of its history without bringing a pang to the heart of 
every true patriot. But there was a rift in the clouds even then, 
for Harriet Lane was the presiding genuis of the White House; 
and never since the days of Mrs. John Quincy Adams had the Ex- 
ecutive Mansion been presided over with such elegance and 
grace. 

It was a position which Miss Lane sustained with credit to her- 
self and honor to her country. She became an orphan at an early 
age and was adopted by her uncle, James Buchanan. From the 
time she grew to womanhood their fortunes were united ; all the 
honors bestowed upon James Buchanan were reflected upon the 
niece, and additional lustre was given to both by the grace and 
virtue for which Miss Lane was pre-eminently distinguished. 

When Mr. Buchanan was made Minister to the Court of St. 
James, by President Pierce, Miss Lane accompanied him and dis- 
pensed the hospitalities of the ministerial mansion. She was 
greatly admired in European court circles ; and by her dignity of 
demeanor and surpassing loveliness, won the admiration and re- 
spect of Queen Victoria and the heart of many an Englishman. 

When Harriet Lane was a simple country girl in the quiet 
town of Lancaster, little did she dream of the future in store for 
her. When, as a child, she wandered at will over the hills and 
meadow lands of her childhood's home, she little thought and 
much less anticipated a day when she would be the companion of 
monarchs, or the presiding genius over the household of the man 
chosen to be the head of this great nation. Yet all this came to 
pass in the course of events, and the Republican government was 
not compromised when the Lancaster maiden became the cyno- 
sure for every eye, as mistress of the White House. 

A story is told of her generous nature, that when quite a lass she 
one day shocked the staid propriety of her uncle, who discovered 
her trudging through the streets of Lancaster with a wheelbarrow 
loaded with wood and coal, which she was taking to an old woman 



THE WHITE HOUSE. 



119 



at the edge of the village, who, she had learned, was in want ; 
and notwithstanding her uncle's "Alas ! alas ! what shall I do with 
that child ? " he was more proud than angry that it was in her 
heart to do it. 

She was a blonde, her eyes deep violet, her hair golden, her 
features classic and beautiful in expression ; she had a command- 
ing form, and every movement was grace. 

The White House in all its appointments and decorations, was 
individualized to a degree never surpassed. 

To descant upon the motives of men and weigh their characters, 
as developed in those days, is foreign to our purpose. It is not 
for us to compare the course pursued by one party with that of the 
other. Posterity will draw the line between them. 

The virtues which have ennobled our country, and the errors 
which have disgraced it will stand out in bold relief upon that 
scroll, when the pen of history traces the images of the past, in 
their glory and in their infamy. 

In all the troublesome days that came into President Bu- 
chanan's administration, when he was harassed on all sides, when 
his official life was beset by foes without and foes within. Miss 
Lane held herself aloof from all animosities and with true 
womanly dignity maintained her position. 

When the land was filled with passion and discord, she was faith- 
ful to the nation ; and when the hour came to lay aside the honors 
of the White House, she left it carrying with her her country's 
respect and love. 

The closing months of President's Buchanan's administration 
were made conspicuous in sundry ways. The Prince of Wales 
was entertained at the White House as a private gentleman, but in 
a manner grateful to Queen Victoria, as the following extract from 
her letter to the President will show. 

" Windsor Castle, November ig, i860. 
" My Good Friend : — 

"Your letter of the 6th instant has afforded me the greatest 
pleasure, containing, as it does, such kind expressions with regard 
to my son, and assuring me that the character and object of his 
visit to you and the United States has been fully appreciated. 
He cannot sufficiently praise the great cordiality with which he has 



120 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

been everywhere greeted, in your country, and the friendly manner 
with which you have received him. And, whilst as a mother, I am 
most grateful for the kindness shown him, I feel impelled, at the 
same time, to express how deeply I have been touched by the 
many demonstrations of affection personally toward myself, which 
his presence has called forth. 

"I fully reciprocate toward your nation the feelings thus made 
uppermost, and look upon them as forming an important link to 
connect two nations of kindred origin and character, whose mutual 
esteem and friendship must always have so material an influence 
upon their respective development and prosperity." 

A peace convention assembled in Washington, February 4, 
1861, at which ex-President John Tyler was chosen chairman. 

After a session of three weeks, th-ey laid before Congress a series 
of proposed amendments to the Constitution, all of which Congress 
rejected, and another amendment was recommended by the 
House. 

During all this controversy the Cabinet of Mr. Buchanan was 
perplexed and disturbed on the subject of reinforcing the forts in 
Charleston harbor, which ended in a dismembered Cabinet, and in 
this confusion the administration of James Buchanan ended. 



CHAPTER XTI. 

ABRAHAM LINCOLN, ANDREW JOHNSON, AND ULYSSES GRANT, PRES- 
IDENTS. 

Step by Step Abraham Lincoln walked before the People — A- Man tried as by 
Fire — Four Years of Battle and Strife — Lived by the Golden Rule — A 
noble Humanity — The Author of trite and good Sayings — A blessed 
Omen — A plot that miscarried — His Second Inaugural — The President's 
Levee — The Nation's Calamity — An imperishable Grief — Out from the 
Eclipse came Acclamations of Praise — His Domestic Life — A golden 
Maxim — Mrs. Lincoln's Ambition — The Impressions she made — Death of 
the beautiful Boy, Willie — The crowning Grief of all — Let the World pity, 
not condemn — Andrew Johnson — Inaugurated President — The Machinery 
of State moves steadily on — A brilliant Winter follows — Mrs. Johnson an 
Invalid — Mrs. Patterson and Mrs. Stover preside over the White House — 
The White House presented a forlorn Appearance — The first Levee — An 
Appropriation — The pure Taste of Martha Patterson — President Johnson's 
State Dinner — The City thronged with notable People — Madame LeVert 
— No Criticisms on Andrew Johnson's Household — A loving Benediction 
— General Ulysses Grant President — At the Capitol — The People waiting 
to see what Buchanan would and what Mr. Lincoln would do — Enthusi- 
asm of March 4, 1S69 — Ceremonies of the Inauguration — Brilliant Proces- 
sion — Spectacle in Senate Galleries — Mrs. Colfax and Mrs. Waite watch 
Proceedings from the Gallery — Mrs. Grant accompanied by her Son — 
Close of the Fortieth Congress — The Hero of the Day — Reading of the 
Inaugural Address — General Grant's Cabinet — Inaugural Ball — The best 
laid Plans of Mice and Men gang aft a-gley — The Agonies of that Ball — 
Poor Horace Greeley — Barmecide Feast — Kitchen Cabinet — President and 
Mrs. Grant — General Babcock — Halcyon Days of Peace — Second Inau- 
gural and the Bitter Cold — Nellie Grant's Wedding — General Grant's 
reluctant Consent — New Year's Day in Washington — Official Opening 
Day — The World's great General — A sorrowing Nation. 

Step by step Abraham Lincoln walked before the people, their 
true representative. If he was ever slow in movement it was 
because the pulse of the people beat slow. He quickened his 



122 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

Step to theirs. He was unequivocally a public man, and in his 
daily routine the pulse of his heart was the indicator of the heart 
throbs of twenty millions, and when he talked it was the articula- 
tion of the thought of all these. 

If ever a man was tried as by fire it was Abraham Lincoln. 
Slander, ridicule and resistance did their best, but an extraordi- 
nary fortune attended him. Lord Bacon says : " Manifest virtues 
procure reputation, occult ones fortune ; " but he was carried on 
into the whirlwind of war, and when he had taken the helm of 
the old Ship of State, the pilot found himself in the midst of a 
tornado. 

During the four years of battle and strife, his endurance was 
unbounded, his courage undaunted. By his humanity and large- 
ness of soul, by his benevolence and justice, he meted out to 
others as he would have them give to him. He was the grand, 
heroic figure, the centre of all hope, and towards him were turned 
the eyes and hearts of all those who loved their country. 

His great, tolerant nature made him accessible to all, and many 
a broken-hearted mother and sister can attest his good nature ; 
and that down-trodden race that was thrown on his compassion is 
a living testimony to the touching tenderness with which he 
treated its people. 

No man is the author of a greater number of clever and witty 
sayings. His speeches and messages are filled with common 
sense and deep foresight. They are humane in tone and lofty in 
expression. When he said : " Every man has a right to be equal 
with every other man," he translated the Declaration of Indepen- 
dence anew. 

His speech at Gettysburg has no equal in modern language. 
His second inaugural will go down into the ages as a master- 
piece of thought. No statesman ever uttered words stamped with 
the seal of so deep a wisdom and so true a simplicity. 

We shall never forget the impressions of that scene. The rain 
had poured incessantly, the sun had been hidden all the morning 
behind a heavy sky, and just as the tall, slim form of Mr. Lincoln 
appeared in the east door of the Capitol, leaning on the arm of 
Chief-Justice Chase, the sun broke through the clouds, lighting 
up the pale, sad face of the President. " Blessed omen ! " cried 



PRESIDENTS LINCOLN, JOHNSON, AND GRANT. 123 

a hundred voices. The multitude caught the enthusiasm, and 
cheer after cheer rang through the air, while the band played 
" Hail to the Chief." 

After Mr. Chase had repeated the oath, Mr. Lincoln stepped 
forward and, in a clear, stentorian voice delivered his address ; 
and when this passage was uttered, — "With malice towards none, 
with charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to 
see the right, let us strive to finish the work we are in, to bind up 
the nation's wounds, to care for those who shall have borne the 
battle and for their widows and orphans ; and with all this, let us 
strive after a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all 
nations," every voice was hushed, and from every patriotic heart 
the prayer went forth, " God bless our President." 

It is well known that a plot was rife for the assassination of 
Abraham Lincoln that day, but for reasons known to those in the 
secret, the plan miscarried. Mr. Henry Elliott Johnston, of Balti- 
more (who afterward married Harriet Lane), gave friendly advice 
to a party in which we were numbered, not to venture upon the 
grand stand during the inaugural ceremonies ; that he had 
written Miss Lane, who was in Washington, that he knew the 
plan was ripe for Mr. Lincoln's assassination, and unless some 
unforeseen force interrupted, there would be bloody work that 
day. A small matter changed that plan; but the demon only 
lay dormant, biding the time when the nefarious scheme could be 
carried out. 

The inaugural ceremonies over, the next grand feature of the 
day was the President's levee. The crowd entered the White 
House grounds at the west gate, on Pennsylvania Avenue. It took 
two hours to reach the portico of the house. It looked as though 
all the world was going to see the President. Once having 
passed the portals, we were ushered into the Blue Room where the 
reception was in progress, and as we took the hand of the Presi- 
dent, and for the last time looked into that sad face ; the expres- 
sion from those deep, dark blue eyes with their far-away look, will 
never be blotted from memory. We passed on to Mrs. Lincoln 
and the others receiving, through the Green Room and the Red 
Room, into the famous East Room, making way for the surging 
masses that followed. Hours passed and still they came ; diplo- 



124 HISTORIC HOMES IN Washington: 

mats, officers of the army and navy, soldiers and civilians, each 
one eager to pay homage to the great man, who was carrying the 
burdens of twenty millions of people. 

At last the doors were closed, the multitude had melted away, 
quiet reigned in Washington ; strife, grief, fears and red battle- 
fields were for the time forgotten. Abraham Lincoln was Presi- 
dent of this glorious Republic, for the second time, and the 
people still had hope. 

The world knows what followed. He lived to see Lee's army 
surrender, to conquer public opinion in England, France, and his 
own loved country. He lived long enough to enact the greatest 
beneficence that man ever made to fellow-.man, the abolition of 
slavery. 

Perhaps the country needed an imperishable grief to touch its 
inmost feelings. Abraham Lincoln fell a martyr to the cause for 
which he fought. 

As the fearful tidings travelled over mountain and sea, into 
every palace and hamlet of the land, a deep darkness settled upon 
the minds of all good men. Old as history is, and manifold as are 
its tragedies, never has a death caused more pain, more anxiety, 
or greater regret. But from the shadow of this uncalculated 
eclipse came acclamations of praise for the life he had lived and 
the good he had accomplished. 

We have not touched upon the domestic life in the White 
House. It was filled with lights and shadows. The golden 
maxim of President Lincoln : " With malice toward none, with 
charity for all," had not grown bright with use by the people, for if 
it had, the air would not have been filled with criticism of the 
President and his family. We look back upon the ignorance of a 
gullible public, as beyond comprehension in the nineteenth 
century, so readily accepted were the exaggerated stories con- 
cerning the ignorance and illiteracy of the President and his 
wife. Had they lived in the Fiji Islands they could not have 
known less of the truth. 

Mrs. Lincoln's education was above the average standard, and 
she was a well-born, cultured woman. Her levees -were brilliant, 
and the multitude that assembled there were received in an ele- 
gant and dignified manner. 



PRESIDENTS LINCOLN, JOHNSON AND GRANT. 1 25 

The impression she made upon strangers can be understood by 
an extract from a letter written by a distinguished foreigner : 

" She performed her part of the honors in response to the 
ovation paid to her, as well as to her husband, with that propriety 
which consistently blends all the graces with a reserved dignity, 
and is much more becoming the wife of a Republican President, 
than any attempt to ape the haughty manner of European 
courts." 

The death of her beautiful boy, Willie, and the crowning grief 
of all, the untimely and horrible taking off of her husband, was 
the last stroke ; the shattered brain thenceforth gave but echoes 
of lost harmonies. 

ANDREW JOHNSON. 

Abraham Lincoln was assassinated April 14, and Andrew 
Johnson assumed the authority, which, by the Constitution, 
devolved upon him. Had the conspiracy been carried out, which 
it had taken months to so carefully plan, there would have been 
no head of the Government left, and yet the Republic would have 
lived. A nation that could so successfully carry on such a war, 
would have gone peacefully to work to re-establish order with the 
pliant adaptability to circumstances and the respect for law, 
which so eminently characterize the native born American, 
The machinery of the slate worked as well and as steadily in its 
accustomed grooves as ever, and the foundations of the Republic 
were not shaken. 

The gloom which overspread Washington after President Lin- 
coln's assassination and the mourning of its people, Avas followed 
by a sudden reaction. But few months had passed before gayety 
resumed its former sway at the national capital. The winter of 
1866 was never surpassed in brilliant entertainments. The long 
years of war had hung like a pall over society. When the cloud 
lifted and peace again reigned over the land, all hearts were filled 
with new hopes and aspirations, and joy and merry-making 
became the order of the day. 

Mrs. Johnson was an invalid, and the honors and duties of the 



' 1 2 6 HIS TORIC HOMES IN WASHING TON. 

White House were performed by her daughters, Mrs. Patterson, 
wife of Senator Patterson, of Tennessee, and Mrs. Stover, a 
widow. 

The White House presented a forlorn appearance when they 
entered it. The four years of war had left their mark everywhere. 
Soldiers had had unlimited sway through all the lower rooms; 
guards had made the rooms into lodging apartments, until 
carpets and sofas were ruined. Add to this the immense throng 
of people who continually crowded the President's house, and it 
is no wonder that the furniture was literally worn out. 

The first levee was held January i, 1866. There had been no 
appropriation from Congress to put the house in becoming order; 
but, here and there, were touches of improvement that plainly 
told of woman's handiwork ; order had been brought out of chaos. 
Clean linen covered the floor of the East Room ; flowers were in 
abundance ; children added an additional tint to the kaleidoscope ; 
cleanliness and good cheer made the change as apparent as it was 
marvellous. 

Mrs. Patterson was dressed in a black velvet dress, a shawl of 
white thread lace falling over her shoulders, and point lace collar. 
Her hair was adorned with a single white japonica. She was sim- 
ple and unaffected in her manner. The younger sister, Mrs. 
Stover, who was in mourning for her husband, who had died in 
the Union army, wore a heavy black silk with no ornaments. 

During the spring an appropriation of thirty thousand dollars 
was made by Congress to refurnish the Executive Mansion. 
Faithfully and conscientiously did Mrs. Patterson spend the sum- 
mer superintending the renovation of the house. 

The pure taste of Martha Patterson was fully exemplified in the 
delicate and graceful blending of colors in all the rooms, of furni- 
ture, carpets, hangings and wall decorations. 

The old home of the Presidents blossomed again like the rose, 
and the plain people from Tennessee were its presiding geniuses. 

The state dinners given by President Johnson were never sur- 
passed in elegance or style. The honor and dignity due the 
nation lost nothing in the hands of these people of Democratic 
simplicity. They fully understood what was required of the Presi- 
dent of the United States, and were equal to any emergency. 



PRESIDENTS LINCOLN, JOHNSON, AND GRANT. 12/ 

Society at large was launched into an atmosphere of gayety. 
Besides the receptions, Wednesdays and Fridays, by the ladies of 
the White House, exclusive of the President's levees, the mem- 
bers of the Cabinet and officials generally, held weekly receptions. 

General and Mrs. Grant, at their home in Georgetown, gave 
brilliant receptions. The French minister, the Marquis de 
Montholon, occupied the house of Mr, Corcoran, and when the 
piping times of peace again brought joy into every household, 
even the foreign embassador rejoiced as well. 

The city was thronged with the most notable people from the 
West and North, and it was difficult for all to find an evening 
disengaged. It had been many years since Washington had had a 
winter of such gayety. In was in the winter of 1866 that Madame 
LeVert, with her daughters, came to Washington. It was said of 
her that she often attended a half dozen receptions in the day 
and three or four parties at night. 

Whatever criticism was made upon Andrew Johnson as Presi- 
dent, the household, like Caesar's wife, was above suspicion, A 
purer atmosphere never existed in the White House than during 
this administration. The noble women of his family went back to 
their homes with names untarnished ; and in loving benediction, 
the people said : "Ye have served us well." 

March the third, 1869, found quite as many people in Washing- 
ton as conjointly witnessed and participated in the grand review 
of the troops of Grant and Sherman in 1865. Eight years before, 
the people, in almost breathless silence, waited to see what Bu- 
chanan would not, and what Mr. Lincoln would do. At the review 
the people had grown quiet in an enthusiasm which began with 
the fall of Richmond and ended with the surrender of Johnston. 
But no breathless silence reigned in Washington, March the third, 
1869 ; neither was there any lack of enthusiasm at the capital. 
The streets, the hotels, the halls of Congress, the corridors of the 
Capitol were alive with humanity. 

The ceremonies of the inauguration of General Grant, in the 
main, were the same as of all the Presidents that had gone 
before ; but the scene from the Capitol, as the brilliant proces- 
sion wound up the avenue, was one of the most beautiful ever 
witnessed in this country. 



128 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

Pennsylvania Avenue, on either side, was literally filled with 
people, moving up and down like a restless sea, throwing up hats 
and waving handkerchiefs in wildest confusion. The advancing 
column was in striking contrast, with its gay flags, silver trappings 
and bright uniforms. Every niche, portico and window was 
filled ; and not an architectural projection on the east front of the 
Capitol but held a larger, or smaller specimen of humanity. 
Even the monuments, trees and fences were black with anxious 
lookers-on. The soft landscape, the city spread out in the valley 
below, the winding Potomac beyond, the sea of upturned faces, 
the glitter of muskets and the red decorations of the artillery, 
formed a picture beautiful to look upon and one never to be for- 
gotten. 

The galleries in the Senate chamber presented a most brilliant 
spectacle. Seats had been reserved on the right of the 
diplomatic gallery for the wives of the President elect and of the 
Vice-President elect and their friends. 

• Mrs. Colfax made her appearance in a toilet of cuir-colored 
silk, white bonnet and green gloves. Beside her sat Mrs. and 
Miss Mathews, Mr. Colfax's mother and sister, and Mrs. Wade, 
who watched the proceedings below. Mrs. Grant, modestly 
attired in black, entered and took the seat assigned her, accom- 
panied by her son in cadet uniform. With intense interest they 
witnessed the Vice-President take the oath. 

The hours of the Fortieth Congress drew to a close, and when 
the hands pointed to twelve the door opened, and the hero of the 
day, clad in a neatly fitting black dress suit, entered unceremo- 
niously and took the seat quietly pointed out to liim, seemingly 
utterly oblivious of the prying gaze of the thousands around him. 
He sustained himself with dignity, sinking the individual in the 
statesman. He knew the requirements of the hour and fulfilled 
them. The Eastern portico of the Capitol was occupied by the 
high officials. General Grant read his inaugural address, and 
took the oath of office making him President of the United States. 
His Cabinet was as follows : Hamilton Fish, of New York, Secre- 
tary of State ; George S. Boutwell, Massachusetts, Secretary of the 
Treasury ; John A. Rawlins, of Illinois, Secretary of War ; George 
M. Robeson, of New Jersey, Secretary of the Navy; Jacob D. 



PRESIDENTS LINCOLN, JOHNSON, AND GRANT. 1 29 

Cox, Secretary of the Interior ; J. A. J. Creswell, of Maryland, 
Postmaster-General ; Eben R. Hoar, of Massachusetts, Attorney- 
General ; all men of culture, energetic action and extended influ- 
ence. 

The inauguration of a new President must, to be quite complete, 
be ushered in with the pomp and parade of a ball. The memory 
of the oldest inhabitant runneth not back to the day when a new 
administration was begun without this time-hallowed custom, yet 
they say there is always something the matter with every inau- 
gural ball. The newly completed north wing of the Treasury was 
procured for this one. Its broad corridors and spacious rooms 
gave promise of space beyond need. The fluted granite pillars, 
that had lain in their wooden cofiins along- Pennsylvania Avenue 
for years, were in their places, with their heads pointing toward 
heaven. On this occasion the Fifteenth Street entrance was the 
one used for the guests. From one of the leading journals of the 
day we quote this description of the brilliant scene presented 
within and without the building. 

" Radiant with color, glowing with light, brilliant like tropical 
flowers, or the plumage of humming birds, and ever shifting and 
varying like a many-hued and constantly changing kaleidoscope. 
Fair faces, lovely forms, penetrant perfumes, distinguished men, 
renowned in war, statesmanship, letters, and the other activities of 
life, some clothed in martial uniforms, others wearing the orders 
and insignia of the Diplomatic Corps. Great waves of music pul- 
sated along the corridors, and all went merry as a marriage 
bell." 

This is what the ball might have been, but, alas ! "The best 
laid plans of mice and men gang aft a-gley." Had the reporter 
waited until anticipation had come to full fruition, his story would 
have been something like this, taken from the pen of an artist on 
the spot : 

" The agonies of that ball can never be written. There are 
mortals dead in their graves because of it. There are mortals who 
still curse and swear and sigh at the thought of it. There are 
diamonds and pearls and precious garments that are lost to their 
owners because of it. The scenes in those cloak and hat rooms 
can never be forgotten by those who witnessed them. The col- 
9 



130 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

ored messengers, called from their posts in the Treasury to do 
duty in these rooms, received hats and wraps with perfect felicity, 
and tucked them in loop-holes as it happened. But to give them 
back, each to the owner was impossible," 

Picture it ! Six or more thousand people clamoring for their 
clothes. In the end they were all tumbled out " promiscuous " 
on the floor. Then came the siege. A few seized their own, but 
many snatched other people's garments — anything, something to 
protect them from the pitiless morning wind which came down 
with the bite of death. Delicate women, too sensitive to take the 
property of others, crouched in corners and wept on window 
ledges ; and there the daylight found them. Carriages also had 
fled out of the scourging blast, and men and women who emerged 
from the marble halls with very little to wear, found they must 
walk to their habitations. One gentleman walked to Capitol Hill, 
nearly two miles, in dancing pumps, and bare headed ; another 
performed the same exploit, wrapped in a lady's sontag. 

Poor Horace Greeley, after expending his wrath on the stairs, 
and cursing Washington anew as a place that should be immedi- 
ately blotted out of the universe, strode to the hotel hatless. 

What was said of the Israelites of old might be said of the 
unfortunate attendants of this unfortunate ball. " Hungry and 
weary, their souls fainted within them." And the dancing w^as 
on a par with the Barmecide Feast. 

The home of sixteen Presidents now became the home of 
Ulysses S. Grant. 

Every administration, from that of John Adams down, has 
brought its own individualism under this roof; and when you pass 
from one historic room to another, each one is a present reality, 
since the day that Abigail Adams dried her clothes in the East 
Room, or Dolly Madison packed off the state papers and the por- 
trait of Washington, ere the British torch left but blackened walls ; 
or the days when the *' Kitchen Cabinet " made the acquaintance 
of the Southern Portico Stairway, or Harriet Lane brought again 
into its drawing-rooms the splendor of courts, and entertained 
the son of a queen. And where is the child of America who will 
forget the lonely man, sorrowful at heart, who bore the nation's 
burdens, and in his lonely midnight walks to the War Department, 



PRESIDENTS LINCOLN, JOHNSOJV, AND GRANT. 131 

with the stars for his guide and the rustling leaves overhead for 
company, getting the latest news from the front, often returning 
sadder than when he went ; or the Green Room, where he last 
gazed upon the beautiful form and features of his fair boy, Willie, 
the pride of his heart — here the body, covered with flowers, rested 
for burial — and, saddest of all, this grand, noble soul going out 
of these portals and not returning ? All this we remember. 

President and Mrs. Grant were no exception to the rule. 
Theirs was an individualism whose atmosphere was purely domes- 
tic. In the social life of the White House we find a home. 

Mrs. Grant's morning receptions were very popular. Perhaps 
the pleasantest feature of these receptions was the presence of the 
President. The informality and entire ease with which they were 
carried on was their charm. 

General Babcock, with that graceful suavity so much his own, 
gave your name to the President ; he, in turn, passed it to Mrs. 
Grant, and she to the next lady receiving, and so on down the line. 
There was no awkward suspense in finding out whom you had the 
honor of addressing. If it were Mrs. Hamilton Fish, or Mrs. 
Sherman, or Mrs. Belknap, you knew it, and were at once at your 
ease. But, according to the present custom, at times, you pass a 
line half the length of the room, as if it were a line of sentinels 
passing judgment for a competitive drill. 

The halcyon days of peace brought into the White House the 
ineffable charm of genuine sociability. Even the nation's parlor, 
the grand old East Room, put on a home look, as much as to say, 
" The latch-string is out to all my children The fatted calf has 
been killed ; return thou prodigal son." 

A soft Turkish carpet, a present from the Sultan of Turkey, 
covered the floor. Heavy lace curtains draped the windows, over 
which hung heavy brocatelle, surmounted by gilt cornices. The 
walls and ceilings were frescoed, chairs and sofas were cushioned 
in keeping with the draperies. The three large crystal chandeliers 
shed the radiance of myriads of miniature suns. Eight large mir- 
rors decorated the room, and the portraits of Washington, Lincoln, 
John Adams, Martin Van Buren, Polk and Tyler hung on the 
walls. Clocks and bronzes made up the ornaments. And into 
this room Uncle Sam's children were welcomed. 



132 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON: 

Four years pass by and the second inaugural of the hero of 
Appomattox returns. It is a repetition of the first, with some 
extras thrown in. There is the same moving mass of people, the 
same glitter of helmets, flash of bayonets, waving plumes, playing 
of bands, gaudy firemen, burnished engines, soldiers, sailors and 
everybody else, full of enthusiasm, ready to celebrate the second 
inaugural of their great Captain. 

Despite the bitter cold that stung and paralyzed the young 
bloods of West Point, or tingled the veins of the midshipmen 
from Annapolis, and the sweep and howl of old Boreas, dancing 
with this man's hat, and running off with that woman's veil, rend- 
ing the gorgeous banners into tatters, filling the air with blinding 
dust, the inauguration went on and Ulysses S. Grant became 
President for another four years. 

The most notable occasion during the administration was the 
wedding of Nellie Grant. Other weddings have been celebrated 
in the White House — Marie Monroe, daughter of President and 
Mrs. Monroe, and Lizzie, daughter of President Tyler. But 
Nellie Grant was an only daughter, and nothing was left undone 
by her parents to make this one of the most brilliant marriage 
ceremonies ever celebrated in the home of the Presidents. She 
was married. May 21st, 1874, to Algernon Sartoris, the son of 
Edward Sartoris, of Hampshire, England, His mother was Ade- 
laide Kemble, daughter of Charles Kemble, and sister of Fanny 
Kemble. Mr. Sartoris was twenty-three years old and Nellie 
Grant nineteen. 

Two hundred guests were invited to the wedding ; officials and 
their families, the army, and navy, and diplomats. 

General Grant reluctantly gave consent to his daughter's mar- 
riage with a foreigner, and he requested that they would live in 
this country. The sudden death of Mr. Sartoris' brother changed 
all these plans. His becoming heir apparent to his father's 
estate made it inevitable that Nellie should live abroad. The 
General never became reconciled to her living out of the country. 
A man who never faltered or wanted courage when danger was 
nigh, could not stand the test when the tender ties of his domestic 
life were broken. 

His son Fred married Miss Honore, of Chicago, who, in part, 



PRESIDENTS LINCOLN, JOHNSON, AND GRANT, 1 33 

filled the vacant place, but the General never forgot, whether 
health bounded through his veins or disease made its mark upon 
him, that his daughter was three thousand miles away. 

In the last years of President Grant's administration the Execu- 
tive Mansion never presented a better appearance. The East 
Room had been made more beautiful than ever in all its features. 
The old furniture had been replaced by new. The Blue Room 
had also been retouched, both as to its walls and furniture, and 
was really one of the handsomest drawing-rooms in the country. 

Among the memorable days of this administration was New 
Year's Day. All New Year's days in Washington have distin- 
guishing features of their own. They hold the first position, inas- 
much as the ladies, for a portion of the day, are out by hundreds, 
if the skies smile. They call upon the President, the members of 
the Cabinet and the Diplomatic Corps, who are " At Home," and 
when the weather is fine the approaches to the White House pre- 
sent a gay appearance. 

After two o'clock the ladies are " At Home," and the observ- 
ances of the day are contmued, according to the time-honored 
custom of New Amsterdam. 

It is the official " Opening Day ; " the day of general meeting of 
men and women, officials and strangers at the White House ; a 
day which gives exhilaration to the social atmosphere. 

After General Grant had successfully conducted and brought 
to a victorious conclusion the late war between the opposing sec- 
tions of the country; after he had judiciously and wisely directed 
the executive branches of this Government eight years, and re- 
established peace with the world, he had a strong hold upon the 
hearts of this nation, and they were ready to manifest it upon 
every occasion. When he decided to take rest and recreation in 
visiting the different nations of the globe, his country bade him 
God-speed. His journey was one continued ovation ; but General 
Grant, in no degree accepted any of those demonstrations as per- 
sonal, but as given to the representative of one of the grandest 
countries on the face of the earth. Yet it is a well-known fact 
that he was looked upon as one of the greatest generals the world 
has ever known, and to him, as such, due homage was given. 

This is a garrulous world, and there are those who say that 



I ->4 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

General Grant lacked this or that qualification, that he was not a 
general, that he was not a statesman. But deeds ring through the 
hearts of all mankind, and when the great hero lay dead, a grate- 
ful nation bowed and bared its head in sorrow. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

RUTHERFORD B. HAYES, JAMES A. GARFIELD, CHESTER A. ARTHUR, 
AND GROVER CLEVELAND, PRESIDENTS. 

Exciting Canvass — Its disputed Results — Electoral Commission — A pure 
Administration — Mrs. Lucy Webb Hayes — Peerless among Women — A 
chosen Counsellor — Her Crown of Glory — Criticisms far from the Truth 
— Lavish Expenditure of Money — Brilliant Entertainments — The White 
House honored — An historical Painting — Mr. and Mrs. Hayes leave the 
White House — Mr. Garfield's Inaugural — The Day not Propitious — A 
grand Procession — A distinguished Throng present — The Center of At- 
traction — A Sweet-faced old Lady — The President's Mother — A running 
Conversation — Two Veteran Senators — Thurman and Hamlin — The his- 
torical Bandanna — Wafts a Senatorial Good-bye — Noblest Roman of them 
all — General Winfield Scott Hancock — Gallant Phil Sheridan — Takes the 
Oath of Office — Adjournment of the Forty-sixth Congress — Turning back 
the Hands of Time — Time still goes on — The Inaugural Address — A 
graceful Act — The first President's Mother in the White House — Mr. Gar- 
field's Cabinet — The Shadow in our Nation's Life — Columbia's Eyes 
dimmed — The Oath of Office taken upon the Death of the President — A 
Critical Position Sustained with Manly Courage — His first Official Duty — 
A Day of Humiliation and Mourning — Adverse Prejudice — Broad and 
expansive Methods — Distrust supplanted by Confidence — United Action — 
Conservative Administration — The White House a Social Centre — The 
President's Sister, Mrs. McElroy — Mr. Arthur's Wife — A Woman of Rare 
Accomplishments — Her Portrait — A Touching Testimonial — The Presi- 
dent's last official Act ; General Grant put on the Retired List— His 
Health Shattered — Died in Lexington Avenue, New York — President 
Arthur's honored Name — True, to his Party — Accident gave him Rank — 
Honored Reputation he Won — The twenty-second President — Grover 
Cleveland a Man of strong Individuality— His Private Secretary— Mr. 
Cleveland inaugurated President — The Presidential Succession — Repeal of 
the old Law— The Members of the Cabinet in Line— President Cleve- 
land's Premier — Thomas Francis Bayard — Daniel Manning — His Suc- 
cessor—The First Lady of the Cabinet— Mrs. Manning— Mr. William C. 
Endicott — Puritan Stock— The Attorney-General— Augustus H. Garland 

135 



136 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

— William Freeman Vilas — The Secretary of the Navy — William C. 
Whitney — The Ladies of the Cabinet — Secretary Lamar — President 
Cleveland's Marriage — Rose Elizabeth Cleveland — Frances Folsom — 
Mrs. Cleveland's Popularity — The Home of the Presidents. 

The exciting political canvass of 1876 is still fresh in the minds 
of the people. Its disputed results, the final adjustment of the 
electoral commissioners, giving the one majority to Mr. Hayes 
over Mr. Tilden, are also well remembered facts. 

Mr. Hayes gathered around him men of the highest integrity, 
and when years have softened the enmities engendered, justice 
will say, "never was there a purer administration than that of 
Rutherford B. Hayes," 

Of all the ladies of the White House, from the days of Abigail 
Adams down, none excelled Mrs. Lucy Webb Hayes in innate 
refinement, broad culture and moral courage. The grandeur of 
human character had, in her, a worthy example. 

Abigail Adams was a representative woman of the days of the 
Revolution. She left to her country an unblemished name. 
Dolly Madison inaugurated the golden reign of the White House. 
Mrs. Hayes fell upon times equally distinctive in many ways. 
She revived the stately graces of other days in the White House. 
She welcomed all, Americans, foreigners, friends and foes, with an 
ease and elegance of manner that charmed all who came into her 
presence. 

She was the chosen counsellor of her husband in the affairs of 
State, a devout Methodist ; in a word, a Christian woman. In 
times when animosities have spurred others to do ungracious 
things and to boast of what they had done, her sweet forgiving 
spirit made answer but in tears. 

The position she took upon the use of wine in the White 
House will always be to her a crown of glory. She saw through 
the forms and shams of life, and her views differed materially 
from any others ; but her decisions were from conviction wrought 
of grave and serious thought. 

Ungracious as were the comments made upon her course, no 
American woman has created for herself, under public and trying 
conditions, so little criticism, and so much admiration and respect 
as Lucy Webb Hayes. 



FOUR PRESIDENTS. 1 37 

There was in her character a combination of intellectual force, 
buoyancy of spirit and deep tenderness of heart. In her portrait, 
which hangs in the White House, the gift of the temperance women, 
she shows a striking, brilliant face, with intellectual, spiritual 
brow, a soft, tender expression of eyes and mouth ; the thick 
brown hair is brought smoothly down her face, and is simply 
coiled at the back. We are glad that the White House is so 
honored, and that there will be handed down to posterity the 
lineaments of this noble woman who dared to do according to her 
convictions. 

While I write, swift-winged messengers tell us that Lucy Webb 
Hayes has passed through the dark valley into the golden sun- 
set of peace. What a sense of regret and loss will this mes- 
sage carry into every home that knows her name ! 

Gracious woman, sincere Christian, devoted friend ! she has 
passed into the vale of shadows, covered with the mantle of a sor- 
rowing nation, crowned with the love of her people. 

The fourth of March President and Mrs. Hayes joined the pro- 
cession of families which the people have chosen to represent 
them, as the years have waxed and waned in the nation's home- 
stead, and walked out of it leaving memories which linger and fill 
every nook and corner. 

Mrs. Hayes left an atmosphere emanating from the rare sun- 
shine of her nature, as a sweet benediction for the one who was 
to follow in the path she had trod for four years — a varied path 
of lights and shades. 

James A. Garfield was elected the twentieth President of the 
United States, and Chester A. Arthur, Vice-President. 

The morning of March 4, 1881, was not a propitious one for an 
inaugural ceremony, for the day opened dark and gloomy, amid 
snow and slush. The procession moved, for neither fair nor foul 
weather can prevent the new administration from being ushered in. 

Pennsylvania Avenue was lined with a multitude of people, 
disappointed and crestfallen with the provision the "weather 
clerk" had made, and more anxious than ever that inaugural day 
should be changed. Despite the weather it was a grand and im- 
posing procession. President Hayes and President-elect Gar- 
field rode in an open barouche drawn by four horses. 



138 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

The Senate chamber and galleries had rapidly filled with a dis- 
tinguished throng. The center of attraction was in the front seat 
in the gallery opposite the Vice-President's desk, where sat the 
mother of the President-elect with his wife and Mrs. Hayes. 

The sweet-faced old lady who sat at the head of the seat drew, 
the attention of the whole audience. Next to her was Mrs. 
Hayes, and at her right Mrs. Garfield. A running conversa- 
tion was kept up among the three, in which old Mrs. Garfield, by 
her quaint and witty remarks, often provoked the others to 
laughter. 

The senators were seated on the left side of the chamber. 
Among them were John Sherman, Roscoe Conkling, Don Cam- 
eron, John A. Logan, David Davis, all earnest lookers-on. Two 
veteran senators sat near whose days in the Senate were num- 
bered when the hands of the clock reached twelve — Thurman and 
Hamlin. Hamlin sat with head bowed, a silent spectator of 
events, while the clock ticked away the remaining moments of his 
senatorial career, Thurman sought solace in his snuff-box and, 
with due reverence, took his parting pinch of senatorial snuff. 
The historical bandanna was once more thrown to the breeze, as 
if wafting a senatorial good-bye to the hallg that had so often 
echoed to the voice of the *'' noblest Roman oi them •all," 

Gen, Winfield S. Hancock, the democratic candfdate for the 
Presidency, came in, arm in arm with James G. Blaine. Gallant 
Phil Sheridan was heartily applauded when he walked in and 
took his seat beside General Hancock. 

The Diplomatic Corps, the judges of the Supreme Court and the 
Cabinet appeared, soon followed by the President and the Presi- 
dent-elect. Vice-President Arthur came last, and was presented 
to the Senate by Vice-President Wheeler. His appearance was 
dignified. His short speech was given in the quiet, manly, 
elegant way he had of doing all things. He took the oath 
of office, and exactly at twelve o'clock the forty-sixth Congress 
was adjourned sine die, the Senate clock having been turned back 
five minutes to accomplish it. Mr. Basset has been often called 
upon to perform this act during his forty years of service, but we 
notice that the turning back of the hands of time has not pre- 
vented his entering the season of the "sere and yellow leaf." 



FOUR PRESIDENTS. 139 

From the brown-haired page he has become the white-headed 
veteran, for time still goes on. 

The centre of interest was at once transferred to the east front 
of the Capitol, where Mr. Garfield read his address, which was 
delivered with eloquence and in a forcible manner. At its close, 
Chief-Justice Waite administered the oath. After the congratula- 
tions of President Hayes and the Chief Justice, Mr. Garfield 
turned around and took his aged mother by the hand and kissed 
her, an act that made a great impression upon the audience ; and 
many a heart rejoiced with her, who had watched her son from 
boyhood and poverty to manhood and the highest elevation in the 
gift of Americans. 

Mr. Garfield next kissed his wife, then shook the hand of Mrs. 
Hayes and of all the others who came within his reach. 

In the mean time the elements were more kind. The sun was 
shining brightly when the cavalcade returned, and the festivities 
ended with a magnificent display of fireworks and the inaugural 
ball in the Museum building. 

Mrs. Eliza Garfield was the first President's mother who lived 
in the White House. 

This is no place to follow the intricate thread of politics. Amid 
all the differences of opinion. President Garfield managed with 
success to appoint a Cabinet not antagonistic to any following. 

James G. Blaine, of Maine, was Secretary of State ; William 
Windom, of Minnesota, Secretary of the Treasury ; Robert T. Lin- 
coln, of Illinois, Secretary of War; William H. Hunt, of Louisiana, 
Secretary of the Navy ; S. J. Kirkwood, of Iowa, Secretary of the 
Interior ; Wayne McVeigh, of Pennsylvania, Attorney-General ; 
Thomas L. James, of New York, Postmaster-General. 

We turn the leaf of history which takes us into the valley and 
the shadow of our nation's life. We would forget that such 
things have been, but the spectre will not down. 

All the associations connected with President Garfield's brief 
administration and life in the White House and its terrible end- 
ing, are still as fresh in the public mind as on that fateful morn- 
ing when the fearful news ran through the streets of Washington, 
" the President is shot." He had barely grasped the reins of 
government when the assassin's hand laid him low, a man whose 



I40 



HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 



name is unworthy a place in history to be handed down to pos- 
terity, one which should fade from the memory of mankind and 
never pass the lips of mortal. 

The world knows the end, and the world misses James A. Gar- 
field. He occupied a place for which the people thought him 
fitted, and his administration gave promise of good results. A 
nobler service awaited him, but, in the transition, Columbia's eyes 
were dimmed and her heart was left desolate. 

Chester A, Arthur took the oath of ofhce immediately upon the 
death of President Garfield. The friends nearest to him know 
how his sensitive nature shrank from the great responsibility. 
They know too, that during the days when the President's life 
hung in the balance, when the hopes of a vast and sensitive 
populace were swayed by every bulletin from the sick chamber, 
the Vice-President was battling with an illness brought upon him 
by over-anxiety, from which there was no abatement save on the 
days when brighter reports came from the President. 

No President was ever called upon to take the guidance of 
the Ship of State under such trying circumstances ; but President 
Arthur was not the man to falter when the hour of duty came. 
With manly courage and dignified presence he gathered up the 
reins that had been dropped, and guided the affairs of state with 
skill and discretion. 

His first official duty was to issue a proclamation appointing 
the day of General Garfield's funeral, a day of humiliation and 
mourning. 

President Arthur took the office under a cloud of distrust, 
dislike, and prejudice; but his methods of appointment and of 
policy were broad and expansive, and calculated for the good 
of all, without regard to obligations of a partisan character. Dis- 
trust was soon supplanted by confidence, and dissensions by 
united action ; order was brought out of confusion, and the 
country was blessed by a pure and conservative administra- 
tion. 

During the time that he presided as Chief Magistrate of the 
nation, the White House was the social centre of the capital. 
President Arthur never forgot his personal dignity and that he 
represented a Republic which was an object of interested 



FOUR PRESIDENTS. 141 

scrutiny to the whole civilized world. His taste was for the 
graceful things of life, and he did much with the aid of his 
sister, Mrs. John E. McElroy, to raise the tone of official society 
at Washington. 

Mr. Arthur was married in 1859, to Ellen Lewis Herndon, a 
daughter of Captain Herndon, who perished on the ill-fated 
Cetitral America. Mrs. Arthur, whose rare accomplishments 
endeared her to many, died suddenly in 18S0, leaving two chil- 
dren, Nellie and Allen. Her portrait, encased in a chaste 
Venetian frame, was always kept on a table in his private cham- 
ber, and each morning a vase of fresh flowers was placed beside 
it, a loving benediction from a wounded heart that never 
healed. 

President Arthur's last official act gave to his administration a 
notable end. He sent to the Senate a message bearing date 
March 4, 1885, nominating Ulysses S. Grant general on the 
retired list of the army, with full pay. The nomination was 
confirmed in open session amid the applause of the crowded 
galleries. 

He left the White House with his health shattered, and 
died at his home on Lexington Avenue, New York, in November 
1886. 

Four Republican Presidents, who had filled the office with 
honor, had gone to their rest. Two of these died a violent death 
and were mourned by the whole world. A third, who was so 
honored in his death as to be followed to his last resting place by 
an army of citizens and soldiers, so lived as to receive honors 
throughout the civilized world such as no other man has re- 
ceived. 

President Arthur, whose honored name is added to this roll, 
stands alone as being the one especial Vice-President in the 
history of the Republic, who, having succeeded to the Presidency, 
did not disappoint those by whom he was elected ; but, like every 
other, he failed to secure an election to the office he had filled. 
Accident gave him rank, but honored reputation he won, and 
his countrymen will say of him that he served them with rare 
fidelity. 

The twenty-fourth quadrennial change of the political forces 



142 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

of the United States brought to the Presidential chair a man 
comparatively unknown in national affairs, a man whose chief 
strength was in his individuality. The county of Erie in the 
state of New York, made him its sheriff. The municipality of 
Buffalo made him its mayor. The commonwealth of New York 
made him its Governor, and the United States made him their 
President. 

His friends honor him for his fearlessness of purpose, his 
integrity and indomitable courage. His sagacity and far-sighted- 
ness were made manifest in the choice he made of the men who 
were to surround and advise with him. 

His private secretary, Daniel Scott Lamont, was a man whose 
integrity and loyalty have never been questioned. He held a 
position during the four years of Mr. Cleveland's administration 
very near to the person of the President. He was a man of 
quick perceptions, was prompt in action, and a safe adviser. 
It is said that since Tobias Lear was secretary to George 
Washington, no other man was so completely a part of the 
official and unofficial life of the President as Daniel Lamont. 

Grover Cleveland was inaugurated President, March 4, 1885. 
It was during this administration in 1886, that an enactment 
of Congress was passed regulating the Presidential succes- 
sion, by precedence, of the members of the Cabinet. This rule 
repealed the old law by which the President //'<? tern, of the Senate, 
or the Speaker of the House of Representatives came in the line 
of the Presidency in case of the death, resignation, removal or 
inability of both the President and Vice-President of the United 
States. The new law substituted for the line of succession, the 
Secretaries of State, Treasury, War, the Attorney-General, the 
Postmaster-General, the Secretary of the Navy and the Secretary 
of the Interior. They therefore rank accordingly in the admin- 
istration, in its ceremonial and social affairs. 

President Cleveland chose for his premier Thomas Francis 
Bayard, of Delaware. Mr. Bayard was sixteen years senator of 
the United States. His home in Washington during these years 
was the centre of a refined and cultivated society. For more 
than forty years some member of the Bayard family has served in 
the United States Senate. 



FOUR PRESIDENTS. 1 43 

The most noticeable figure in Mr. Cleveland's Cabinet was 
perhaps Daniel Manning ; and probably his retirement from 
impaired health was one of the saddest experiences that came to 
the President during his administration, for his absence withdrew 
from the President the counsel and advice of a devoted friend. 
Mr. Manning was succeeded by Assistant-Secretary Charles 
Stebbins Fairchild, which was a just recognition of his services 
performed in the office for more than a year. Mrs. Fairchild was 
the first lady of the Cabinet after the sad death of Mrs. Bayard. 
She carried the honors with dignity and grace. She was a niece 
of Horatio Seymour of New York. 

Mrs. Manning was a descendant of Chancellor Livingston, 
who administered the oath of office to President Washington. 
During her two years residence in Washington she made many 
warm friends. She was a woman of captivating grace, and 
carried with her much of the charm of the women of the halcyon 
days of the Washington re'gime. When she took her departure 
she carried with her the regrets of Washington society, official and 
otherwise. 

Mr. William Crowninshield Endicott was Mr. Cleveland's 
Secretary of War. His wife was Miss Ellen Peabody, daughter 
of George Peabody, of Salem, Massachusetts. Mr. Endicott's 
mother was the niece of Jacob Crowninshield, President Jeffer- 
son's Secretary of the Navy. Their daughter, Mary C. Endicott, 
married Hon. Joseph Chamberlain of England, during the time 
that her father held the portfolio of war. 

The appointment to the Attorney-Generalship by President 
Cleveland of the Hon. Augustus H. Garland, was the cause of 
some adverse criticism by Mr. Cleveland's friends. He was a 
Tennessean by birth but an Arkansan by adoption. He helped to 
pass the ordinance of secession of his State in 1861, and to make 
laws for the Confederacy. He was refused a seat in the Senate 
in 1867, but was elected governor of Arkansas in 1874 and sent 
to the Senate in 1876 and 1882. He was thought to be the most 
progressive of the Southern Democratic senators. He advocated 
accepting the results of the war between the North and the South, 
and undoubtedly. President Cleveland's policy was to meet such a 
sentiment half way. 



144 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON: 

William Freeman Vilas, of Wisconsin, was Postmaster-General, 
He served under Grant during the war and was a great admirer 
of the old hero. Mrs. Vilas was the daughter of Dr. Fox, an 
eminent physician of Milwaukee. Until her health became 
precarious, their home was made very attractive to the social 
world. 

The Secretary of the Navy, William C. Whitney, was the 
weahhy man of the Cabinet and entertained with a royal hand. 
He is a man of princely generosity where charities are deserving. 
He made hosts of friends in and out of his department. He was 
the active manager of the campaign in New York in 1884. 

Mrs. Flora Payne Whitney, daughter of the millionaire senator 
from Ohio, Was a charming hostess. She presided over the 
household entertainments in a manner becoming her position. In 
the dispensing of kindly charities her hand was not withheld ; 
and her womanly virtues found ready recognition. The depart- 
ure of the Whitney family from Washington was deeply regretted 
by the friends they had made, not alone among those of high 
degree, but among the poor and lowly, which is praise indeed. 

Lucius Quintus Curtius Lamar, Secretary of the Interior under 
Mr. Cleveland, was an old time Southern statesman. At the 
time he was made a member of this Cabinet he was a widower. 
He was a conspicuous member of Congress in Buchanan's time, 
and helped to take the States out of the Union. He was a 
seceder and soldier of the Rebellion, and a' member of Congress 
in the solidified Union in 1873 ; a senator in 1877, until Mr. 
Cleveland called him into his Cabinet, and before the end of his 
promotion drew to a close, he was asked by the President to go up 
higher, and he is now for life one of the Justices of the Supreme 
Court of the United States. As his name might indicate, his 
career has covered varied lines in and out of his country's service. 

President Cleveland entered upon his ofificial and social duties 
a bachelor. His sister. Rose Elizabeth Cleveland, for a time, 
dispensed the hospitalities of the White House with becoming 
dignity. , Somehow politics and state craft became entangled with 
the thread of Hymen, and a wedding in the White House was the 
result. His marriage to Frances Folsom occurred on the sec- 
ond of June, 1886, in the Red Room of the Executive Mansion. 



FOLK PRESIDENTS. 1 45 

The wife of the President, or the one who presides at his 
household, holds the same relation to the social structure as the 
President does to the body politic. He is supreme in rank as the 
President ; and she ranks above all others in the social world. 
Therefore she is not called upon to return calls. She may hold 
receptions open to all, and can make appointments for informal 
visitors from strangers in the city. She receives the first visit 
from every one and is not expected to return either, though she is 
at liberty to do so if she desires. 

Mrs. Cleveland won admiration for the discretion shown in all 
social, informal, or ceremonial relations which the duties of First 
Lady of the land made incumbent upon her. Though the days 
are p3.st in which she occupied a public position, and the fulsome- 
ness of newspaper oratory has come to an end, she is still 
remembered by those who saw her in the White House, as adding 
a great deal to the popularity of that administration. 

This home of the Presidents is one in which every citizen has a 
personal interest. We have reviewed the eighty-eight years that 
this house has been the home of our Chief Magistrate and we are 
amazed, in looking back over the history of the country, to see 
how many men who have been educated as statesmen, who were 
known throughout the length and breadth of the land as peculi- 
arly fitted by their talents for the Presidency, have been sup- 
planted by men unknown. 

Two of the greatest senators and statesmen this Republic has 
known, Henry Clay and Daniel Webster, did not succeed in win- 
ning their way to the crowning honor which is highest in the gift 
of the people. Others could be added to the list, and this will 
probably be the case as long as a majority of electors and not a 
majority of the popular vote elects the President. 

lO 



CHAPTER XIV. 

BENJAMIN HARRISON, PRESIDENT. 

The Line closed to Date — Remarkable Women have filled the White House — 
What Wonders have the Years Wrought — Mrs. Adams lost in the Woods 
— Mrs. Harrison found a Citv fair to look upon — She will honor the 
White House and American Womanhood — Mrs. McKee and her children 
— Dr. Scott — Mrs. Scott Lord — Cares multiply in the White House — A 
high social Centre — The President — Results judged by the Beginning — 
Members of his Cabinet — James G. Blaine, Secretary of State — The first 
Incumbent, Thomas Jefferson — William Windom, Secretary of the Treas- 
ury — Ale-xarider Hamilton first held this Office — Redfield Proctor, Secre- 
tary of War — Benjamin Tracy, Secretary of the Navy — John Wanamaker, 
Postmaster-General — John W. Noble, Secretary of the Interior — William 
Henry Harrison Miller, Attorney-General — The Cabinet Centennial Year — 
Jeremiah M. Rusk, Secretary of Agriculture — President Harrison as he is 
to his People. 

We close the line of Presidents and the traditions that have 
surrounded the White House since President and Mrs. Adams 
entered its portals, down to the present, which finds Benjamin 
Harrison, President, and Caroline Scott Harrison, First Lady of 
the land. 

In looking back upon the wives of the Presidents the verdict 
must be that, with few exceptions, they have been women of 
remarkable intelligence and rare qualities. But what wondrous 
changes have been witnessed since the line began ! Mrs. Adams, 
on her troublous way to the capital, was lost in the woods 
between Baltimore and Washington ; Mrs. Harrison was brought 
triumphantly over rivers and mountains and whirled into the 
capital city, surrounded by the luxuries of a palace car. 

Mrs. Adams in 1800 found "here and there a small cot without 
a glass window," interspersed in the forests ; in the city a few 
buildings amid bogs and morasses. " The White House," she 

146 



BENJAMIN HARRISON, PRESIDENT. 147 

writes, " is upon a grand and superb scale, but not a single apart- 
ment finished." 

Mrs. Harrison found a city fair to look upon ; the " grand and 
superb " house dim with age, and the people clamoring tor a 
home worthy the Chief Executive. 

Mrs. Adams found the lighting of the apartments a '' tax 
indeed," when wax tapers and tallow dips were the illuminating 
power ; and thus it came that one servant was provided for 
this position by the powers that in those days footed all the 
household bills, from dish towels to gold spoons. To the 
present time this office has been handed down, one servant 
drawing his salary for lighting the gas. Very likely when 
drawing-room, corridors and chambers glow with illumination by 
the touch of the electric button, this servant will sit his arduous 
duties through with diligence, for to change what has been for 
nearly a century woufd never do. 

Mrs. Adams said in 1800, "bells were wholly wanting; so 
great an inconvenience, I do not know what to do." In 1889 
Mrs. Harrison has but to touch a button to put her into communi- 
cation with the remotest corner of the house. Did not little Ben- 
jamin, when alone one day in his grandfather's office, climb to his 
table, and by a touch here and there with his baby hand, set the 
whole force of secretaries, clerks and messengers on a chase to do 
his majesty's bidding ? 

And, too, Mrs. Adams was distressed for wood. She "could 
not even see wood for the trees," it all having been burnt up by 
Briesler to dry the walls of the house before their coming ; and so 
she had to *' shiver, shiver, no wood-cutters and no carters." 

As you pass from room to room in this palatial home — for it is 
this, after all the carping — you can but contrast the past with the 
present, and congratulate Mrs. Harrison that she is Lady of the 
White House in the year of Our Lord, 1889 ! 

As we come along down the line of fair and stately women who 
have lived under this roof, we find many names whose influence 
over the rulers of the nation has given to posterity a spotless and 
heroic memory ; and we have still another name to add to the 
line of the ladies of the White House. Caroline Scott Harrison 
will honor her station by her rare qualities of mind and heart 



148 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

more than it can honor her. Born and reared in an atmosphere 
of justice, truth and intelligence, she will not only ornament the 
White House, but honor American womanhood. With her family 
around her, with her daughter, Mrs. McKee, and the grand- 
children who have already touched the nation's heart, a sweet 
domestic picture is presented. 

Dr. Scott, the father of Mrs. Harrison, and Mrs, Scott Lord, the 
sister, make a marked feature in the social and the home life of 
the White House. The venerable father is not only the object of 
devotion to his daughters, but he enjoys the respect of hosts of 
friends. 

From the days of Abigail Adams to the present, the cares and 
responsibilities resting upon the presiding lady of the White 
House have increased in geometrical progression, until the posi- 
tion is far from being a flowery bed of ease. 

By the people she is thought of as the social leader and queen 
of the drawing-room. The practical side of life hardly enters the 
popular mind, biit especially is the practical side dominant in a 
character like Mrs. Harrison's. We shall hardly find her emulat- 
ing Martha Patterson, who used to " don a calico dress and spot- 
less apron and descend to the kitchen to skim the milk and attend 
to the dairy before breakfast." Nevertheless Mrs. Harrison will 
be, as she always has been, a devoted wife, mother and model 
housekeeper. To this affectionate domestic life will be added a- 
fine culture and high intellectual quality, as well as a marked 
artistic ability, for Mrs. Harrison's talent in painting is well 
known. All these admirable features will give tone to the social 
centre of the land. 

The President has but just entered upon the duties of his 
administration. The result can be judged only by the beginning. 
Any man whose judgment will lead him to so judiciously choose 
his Cabinet can be well trusted for the rest. 

He knew the wishes of the people when he asked James G. 
Bliane to accept the portfolio of state. He knew that friends would 
hold up his hands and the opposition would fear his decision. 

From the first incumbent, Thomas Jeflferson, to the present, no 
man of greater ability has filled this office. 

Mr. Harrison's chosen Secretary of the Treasury, Hon. William 



BENJAMIN HARRISON, PRESIDENT. 149 

Windom, is another appointment that does him credit. Alex- 
ander Hamilton, the first man to hold the office, who entered it 
when there was not money enough in the Treasury to meet cur- 
rent expenses, to say nothing of paying a debt of tens of millions, 
yet saved the national credit against mighty odds ; his first official 
act being to recommend thai the domestic and foreign war debt 
should be paid dollar for dollar. 

In his supreme sagacity he put forth those great state papers on 
finance, whose embodiment into laws fixed the duties on all for- 
eign productions and taxed with judgment the necessities and 
luxuries of life. 

He established a system that has met all exigencies ; saved the 
national credit, paid the national war debt of the Revolution and 
of 1812 ; and in the war of the Rebellion, when the expenses of a 
day were more than a year's income in Hamilton's time, this 
policy met all demands. The national credit was maintained, the 
country was prosperous and the United States Treasury vaults 
full to overflowing. 

It is said that it takes more wisdom to keep money and judi- 
ciously handle it, than it does to make it. Therefore President 
Harrison chose wisely when he placed William Windom at the 
head of the financial department. 

In this centennial year of Cabinet organization, it speaks well 
for the leaders of the Republic that there is no sign of going 
backward. Since 1789, when one of New England's bravest 
generals, Henry Knox, came into possession of the first portfolio 
of the Secretary of War, all along the century's line of war minis- 
ters, we find brave men. 

Monroe, of Virginia ; Crawford, of Georgia ; Calhoun, of South 
Carolina ; Marcy, of New York ; Cameron and Stanton, of Penn- 
sylvania; Grant, of Illinois, — all, have been eminent chieftains 
whose valor has been proved in times of need. 

In times of peace there is no cessation of this work. The reg- 
ular army is the skeleton upon which, in times of war, the forces 
of the Republic form. The President has chosen his councillor 
from the clear atmosphere of the New England hills, where, just 
a hundred years ago George Washington went for Henry Knox to 
occupy the post now held by Secretary Proctor. 



I50 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

The department of the navy was first an auxiliarj' of the army ; 
but in 1789 became a full-fledged department and its head hon- 
ored by a seat at the Cabinet table, filled by Benjamin Stoddard, 
of INIaryland. 

There are rumors that the navy has arrogated to itself a grade 
superior to the parent branch. While " Uncle Samuel " cashes 
the drafts that educate, floats the tritons of the deep, pays the 
bills of West Point and puts ammunition and hard-tack into the 
knapsacks of the rank and file of the army, they all strike a level. 
Superior men have been called from civil life to represent this 
department ; among them may be named Crowninshield, and 
George Bancroft, of Massachusetts ; John Branch, and William A. 
Graham, of North Carolina ; Levi Woodbury, and William E. 
Chandler, of New Hampshire; Gideon Welles, of Connecticut; 
William C. Whitney, and, lastly President Harrison's choice, Ben- 
jamin F. Tracy, of New York. 

It does not make a sou marque's difference whether we have a 
ship afloat or not, so long as we have good men to call upon. 
When a line-of-battle ship is needed, the command will be given, 
and, by magic, some phantom fleet will put its armor on, ready for 
action. The President gave a careful look ahead when he made 
Benjamin F. Tracy, Secretary of the Navy. 

The British parliament, in 17 10, in the reign of Queen Anne, 
established a general post-office for her Majesty's dominions. By 
this act one chief letter-office was established in New York, and 
others at convenient places in her Majesty's provinces in Amer- 
ica. 

These postal facilities were preserved as far as possible when 
the yoke of allegiance to the Crown was thrown off. Benjamin 
Franklin was appointed General Deputy Postmaster of the 
colonies in 1753. Two years from this time he gave notice 
that the mail to New England, which formerly started once a fort- 
night in winter, should start once a week all the year, whereby 
answers to letters might be obtained between Philadelphia and 
Boston once in three weeks, which used to require six weeks. 

Samuel Osgood was the first Postmaster-General under the Fed- 
eral government, at a salary of fifteen hundred dollars per annum. 
His appointment dates to 1789, back just one hundred years. 



BENJAMIN HARRISON, PRESIDENT. I 5 I 

Not until President Jackson's administration, 1829, was the 
Postmaster-General recognized as an ex-officio cabinet minister. 

Among America's distinguished sons who have been honored by 
appointments as heads of this office, there are Amos Kendall, 
Joseph Holt, Horatio King, Montgomery Blair, and John A. J. 
Creswell ; powerful men when the country needed giant help. 

President Harrison has again returned to the locality that gave 
Ben Franklin to the country's service, and from the city of 
Brotherly Love he brings John Wanamaker to the front, to handle 
the nation's mail. 

It did not require a political campaign to make this man prom- 
inent before the people ; for " Wanamaker's," in Philadelphia, is as 
well known as the Academy of Fine Arts. But before all this, Mr. 
Wanamaker's Sunday-school, the largest in the world, built up by 
his indefatigable exertions, his money and his deeply religious 
instincts, stamped him beyond all things else, to be a man whose 
heart is in the right place, one to whom the President can look 
for a conscientious adjustment of the important department in- 
trusted to his keeping. 

In 1849 Congress passed an act establishing the Interior De- 
partment,, and Thomas Ewing, of Ohio, was the first Secretary. 
Able men have been called to the head of this department, like 
Caleb B. Smith, of Indiana ; James Harlan, of Iowa ; Zach Chan- 
dler, of Michigan ; Henry M. Teller, of Colorado. 

John W. Noble, the newly-appointed Secretary, the people will 
trust also to carry out the record he has made for his love of 
country. No shadow of ignominy will rest upon him. He has 
been tried and not found wanting. 

Again must we go back a hundred years to learn who was the 
first Attorney-General, and to find that it was Edmund Randolph, 
of Virginia. What an array we find along the way ! There were 
William Pinckney, Richard Rush, William Wirt, Reverdy Johnson, 
Caleb Gushing, Jeremiah Black, Edwin M. Stanton and William 
M. Evarts among them. 

William Henry Harrison Miller has been too closely allied to 
President Harrison for him to have made any mistake in his ap- 
pointment. He will be a wise counsellor and friend of the Pres- 
ident, such as is a necessity to every man in his position. 



152 



HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON: 



The Cabinet centennial year could not have been better ob- 
served than by adding a new department and a new Secretary to 
the President's ofificial household. A new chair has been placed 
at this family table, and the President has happily invited Jeremiah 
M. Rusk, from the Badger State, to fill it. 

He bears the credentials of a public man. Three terms has he 
served in Congress, and three times been chosen governor of his 
State ; but, perhaps, what he prizes most is his service to his coun- 
try which made him Brigadier-General. The picture that has 
gone over the country representing him driving the "boys" to 
"Nacirema" show his popularity. President Harrison's judg- 
ment was not faulty when he chose "Jerry" Rusk for his Secre- 
tary of Agriculture. 

Mr. Harrison needs no pen picture to make him a familiar fig- 
ure before the country. His ancestors, his birthplace, his daily life 
through the years are familiar to every newspaper reader. He 
need not depend for honor upon the prestige of his ancestors. 
The record of his personal life is his glory among his fellow-coun- 
trymen. His character, both public and private, is above sus- 
picion. His love for his family, the tender solicitude he manifests in 
their presence or absence, the simplicity with which his attention to 
their wants is carried out, his familiar figure, seen almost daily 
walking along the thoroughfares of Washington, are subjects of 
daily comment which have won the hearts of the people. He 
also loves his country and his fellow-men, but above all he 
loves his God. Such a man, it is safe to say, will wittingly make 
no mistakes. 

When his administration is ended, Benjamin Harrison will live 
in the hearts of thousands who were made happier by his unself- 
ish nature and better by a native toleration and affection, at once 
impartial and sincere. 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE HOMES OF LA FAYETTE SQUARE ; GENERAL SICKLES, COMMODORE 
DECATUR, DOLLY MADISON, OGLE TAYLOE, WILLIAM H. SEWARD. 

The White House the first built on the Square— St. John's Church, when built— 
Decatur's Service to his Country — Who was Mrs. Decatur — What of 
Jerome Bonaparte — Decatur's Life — An Historical Party — The Fatal Duel 
— Commodore Barron — An Historic Estimate — The House changes Hands 
— Baron Tuyl — Henry Clay in the Decatur Mansion — Martin Van Buren 
lived here as Secretary of State — A broken Cabinet — An accomplished 
Statesman succeeds Van Buren — Edward Livingston — His beautiful Wife 
and Daughter — Cora Livingston — " Our Lady of the Manor " — Charles 
Vaughan — A gracious Bachelor — Purchased by John Gadsby — Other Men 
of Note — Baron Hyde de Neuville and the King Brothers — Succeeded by 
William Appleton of Boston — Purchased by Gen. Edward F. Beale — The 
Dan Sickles Home— Built by Dr. Ewell— Successively the Home of three 
Secretaries of the Navy— Smith Thompson, Southard and Woodbury — 
William C. Rives and Dr. Harris live here later — By whom purchased — 
Rented by Dan Sickles— La Fayette Square in its Infancy — Sunnier Days 
—Schuyler Colfax— Home of Dolly Madison— By whom built — Purchased 
by Mrs. Madison— Rented for Economy's Sake— General Crittenden and 
Hon. William C. Preston— The accomplished Mrs. Roosevelt— Mrs. Mad- 
ison in later years — New Year's Day— Died in this House— Purchased by 
Commodore Wilkes— Headquarters of General McClellan— A Military 
Tableau— Home of the Cosmos Club— Home of Benjamin Ogle Tayloe— 
Leased to Governor Swan— Mr. Tayloe's Home for forty Years— Elegant 
Hospitality— President William Henry Harrison's last Visit— A charac- 
teristic Poem— Shooting of Philip Barton Key— Where he Lived— Who 
Mr. Tayloe married— Died in Rome— Senator Don Cameron purchased 
the House— The most historic Building— Ground owned by Henry Clay- 
Commodore Rodgers— Nestor of the Navy— William H. Seward— His ele- 
gant Hospitality— " Irrepressible Conflict "—Shadows in this Home- 
Attempted Assassination— A lovely Daughter— A Memory and a Waiting 
—New Scenes— A social Queen— General and Mrs. Belknap— A new-made 
Grave— An honored Occupant— James G. Blaine— Changes he has wit- 

153 



154 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

nessed — Illustrious Company — His Personal Magnetism— An American 
Statesman — His Footstep in the Seward Home — An attractive Location 
— History making — La Fayette Square— Ancient Apple Trees and truant 
Boys — " Hero of New Orleans " — Happy Childhood — Peaceful Memories. 

The White House was the first house built on La Fayette 
Square. It was completed in 1800. No other house was erected 
on the Square until after the war of 18 12. 

As late as 18 12 the whole space from Fifteenth to Seventeenth 
Street was a neglected common, entirely destitute of trees, and was 
the parade ground for the militia muster. 

There was but one house between this common and the *' Seven 
Buildings." The only houses north of the common were one that 
occupied the site of the present Riggs residence, and an old rick- 
ety house on the northeast angle of the Square on Vermont 
Avenue, which was successively owned by Mr, Corcoran and Mr. 
Riggs. 

In the primitive days, when this Square was but a waste place, 
at its west angle there was an oval race-course ; and the avenue, at 
Seventeenth and Twentieth Streets, was the home stretch, with the 
judges' stand near the residence of Mr. William T. Carroll, on F 
Street. 

The original plan of the city, it is said, embraced the whole 
area from Fifteenth to Seventeenth Street, in the Presidential 
grounds, but under the direction of Mr. Jefferson they were 
reduced to their present dimensions, forming the streets Fifteenth 
and Seventeenth, and cutting off La Fayette Square. 

At the conclusion of the war of 18 12, St. John's church was 
built. It was the first building erected on the Square. The first 
private house was built by Commodore Decatur in 1819. He 
purchased the lot on the corner of H and Sixteenth Streets, and 
Latrobe was the architect of the house that now adorns the 
corner. 

It was expected that the other commodores, Rodgers and 
Ridgely, would build houses similar on opposite angles of the 
Square. 

Commodore Decatur's first home was one of the " Seven Build- 
ings." He was a man of high renown and did his country noble 
service. He was an eminently patriotic man, as is manifested in 



THE HOMES OF LA FA YETTE SQUARE. \ 5 5 

his celebrated toast : " My country, may she always be right ; but, 
right or wrong, my country." 

Mrs. Decatur was a woman of rare accomplishments. She was 
the daughter of Mr. Wheeler, an eminent merchant of Norfolk. 
He gave her every advantage that money could bring. She left 
school with high honors, and for years was the reigning belle of 
Norfolk. It is said that her band was sought by Jerome Bona- 
parte ; but by the advice of her friend, Robert G. Harper, she 
rejected him. Mr. Harper predicted, what afterward turned out 
to be the case with his marriage with Miss Patterson, that Napo- 
leon would repudiate the marriage. 

The history of Decatur's life was written in the decorations on 
the walls of this house. There were paintings of celebrated bat- 
tles and trophies of war, gold medals and gold swords, the gifts of 
Congress, articles of virtu, services of plate, gifts from the cities 
of Baltimore and Philadelphia, bits of oriental furniture, purchased 
or captured in conflicts in Barbary, or on the high seas. In these 
spacious rooms the grand assemblies gathered down to the Satur- 
day night before the fatal duel was fought. 

This party was given in honor of Mrs. Gouverneur, the daughter 
of President Monroe, then a bride. Commodore Decatur, cognizant 
of the affair of honor which awaited him, was the same affable 
host, his wife, even, being unconscious of the cloud that hung 
over them. 

The next week Commodore Porter was to give a similar party. 
During the evening Decatur said to his confidant. Commodore 
Porter, " I may spoil your party." 

The following Wednesday, at the dawn of day, Decatur arose, 
walked silently out of the house, crossed La Fayette Square and 
proceeded to Beale's Tavern, near the Capitol, where he and his 
seconds breakfasted. The duel was fought at Bladensburgh, at 
nine o'clock. Decatur was mortally wounded, and was brought to 
his home, where he died in the basement room of the house, on the 
evening of the day of the duel. 

Excitement ran high, and Commodore Barron, although maimed 
for life, was the recipient of anathemas from hearts tortured with 
agony, for the noble Decatur dead. But since then many a naval 
officer has changed his mind in regard to this unfortunate affair. 



156 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON: 

There is a period which elapses after the death of any hero, 
when he passes out of patriotic into historic estimate; and there 
are many to-day who believe that Decatur's renewed and unre- 
lenting pursuit of Barron was the cause of the duel. 

It is related by those living near, that Mrs. Decatur lived on in 
this house three years secluded and alone, and then removed to 
Kalorama, where her husband was buried. Here she entertained 
with great display. Her last days were spent in Georgetown, and 
she died in the convent in 1855. 

After Mrs. Decatur left her home she rented it to the Russian 
Minister, Baron Tuyl. His name and fame seem to have been 
founded upon his being an epicure, his liberal hospitality and the 
excellence of his dinners. 

When he left Washington, John Quincy Adams was President, 
and his Secretary of State, Henry Clay, occupied the Decatur 
house. Here he sustained his social position and added dignity 
to the hallowed memories of this home. 

The handsome furniture and belongings of the house were in 
good taste. On his retirement from office he sold his furniture, 
and many pieces that adorned the home of Ogle Tayloe were pur- 
chased from Mr. Clay. 

Martin Van Buren succeeded Mr. Clay, as Secretary of State, 
during President Jackson's administration, and occupied this 
house. With his love of show he was not outdone by Henry 
Clay in the style of his entertainments. 

When the Jackson Cabinet was broken up, the accomplished 
statesman, Edward Livingston, succeeded Mr. Van Buren in the 
Cabinet and in his home. This appointment undoubtedly grew 
out of the warm attachment that sprung up between General Jack- 
son and Mr. Livingston at New Orleans. 

Edward Livingston was the brother of the Chancellor of New 
York, He left his native state to make a home in the new 
domain of Louisiana. His marriage with the charming Madame 
Moreau, the midnight wedding in the chapel of the Ursuline con- 
vent of New Orleans, the vicissitudes she and her family expe- 
rienced, her exile from San Domingo and her love for her 
adopted country, are well known incidents in history. 

When Mr. Livingston first came to Washington as a member of 



THE HOMES OF LA FAYETTE SQUARE. 1 57 

Congress, Monroe was President. He was afterward sent as 
senator, and then was tendered the portfolio of Secretary of State, 
which he relinquished when made Minister to the Court of France. 

His beautiful wife and his daughter, Cora Livingston, made the 
Decatur house the social centre of Washington society during the 
Jackson administration, Mrs. Livingston was a woman of rare 
endowments, and her mantle gracefully fell upon their worthy child. 
Cora married Thomas Barton, who was afterward Secretary of 
Legation with her father. Both of these women spent their 
widowhood at the grand old mansion on the Hudson, Montgom- 
ery Place. Mrs. Livingston laid down her life in October, i860, 
full of years and full of honor. 

Years have waxed and waned since the beautiful Cora Living- 
ston was the reigning belle of Jackson's administration. Her last 
visit to the city of her childhood's home, in 187 1, brought back 
" Our Lady of the Manor," in clinging black robes, a quaint hood 
of black silk with its soft white ruche touching brow and cheek 
that were no longer young. And yet, she was the centre of 
attraction and reverence wherever she appeared. She too rests 
at the manor on the Hudson, and other lives have individualized 
the home on La Fayette Square. 

Sir Charles Vaughan, the British minister, lived here. He was 
a bachelor, but he made his house a center for refined and elegant 
society, and with his gracious manner and open hospitality enter- 
tained in true British fashion. 

On his leaving the Decatur house, "mine host" of the National 
Hotel, Mr. John Gadsby, occupied it until his death. 

The Baron Hyde de Neuville represented the French aristoc- 
racy of the old re'gime, and the Decatur house was his home. 
They entertained royally ; on receiving her guests the baroness 
used to say : 

" I am charming to see you." 

The brothers King, members of Congress from New York, lived 
here. One was the father of Mrs. Bancroft Davis, whose girlhood 
was spent under this historical roof. These were succeeded by 
the family of William Appleton, of Boston. He was revered for 
his benevolence. Admonished one day by his servant that his 
wood-pile, which had been left on the sidewalk, was fast being car- 



158 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

ried off, he replied : " I think it had better not be removed while 
the weather is so cold." 

For a time this house was rented by the Government and used 
for offices, and was afterward purchased by General Edward Fitz- 
gerald Beale. On this transfer the Decatur mansion fell into 
worthy hands. General Beale is the grandson of Commodore 
Thomas Truxton. Commodore Decatur was a midshipman under 
Truxton, and thus it came that the grandson of his old commander 
will keep the charming halls and grand salons brilliant with the 
revived splendor of past days. 

Every President, from Madison to General Grant, has been en- 
tertained beneath its roof. Brilliant assemblies still gather here ; 
music and laughter, beauty and grace bring back echoes from the 
past, and the aftertime will repeat the festivities of generations 

passed away. 

******* 

The next house built on the Square was the one known as the 
Stockton-Sickles house. It stands a few rods to the south of the 
Decatur house and was built by Dr. Ewell of the Navy. It suc- 
cessively passed into the hands of three Secretaries of the Navy, 
Smith Thompson, Southard, and Woodbury, Mr. Woodbury living 
there while Secretary of the Treasury and the Navy. 

William C. Rives, senator from Virginia, was the next occupant, 
and then Dr. Harris of the Navy. It was afterward purchased by 
Mr. Stockton, purser in the Navy. His wife was a niece of Mr. 
Decatur and lived with him at the time of his death. Upon the 
death of Mr. Stockton, Daniel E. Sickles, member of Congress from 
New York, rented the house and into it took his young and 
inexperienced wife. 

When Mr. and Mrs. Sickles lived there, La Fayette Square was in 
its infancy. The tall trees that are now towering to the tops of the 
houses, giving grateful shelter and shade, were then merely shrubs. 
The waving of a handkerchief could be seen distinctly at the club 
house opposite. This was the signal used by the once innocent, 
then tempted and ruined wife, and Key. The betrayal and death 
by Sickles' hand came in quick succession. A shattered home 
only was left. 

We gladly turn the pages of history and come upon sunnier 



THE HOMES OF LA FAYETTE SQUARE. 159 

days, when Schuyler Colfax, with his mother and sister, the incom- 
parable host and hostess, reigned over the household gathered 
within these walls. 

******* 

On the corner of La Fayette Place and H Street stands the 
house in which Mrs. Madison, for several years after her husband's 
death, held court. It was built by Richard Cutts, Mrs. Madison's 
brother-in-law. This was the sister Cutts upon whom the rhyme 
was written, after the ride with Mrs. Madison, when the White 
House was burned in 18x4. 

" My sister Cutts, and Cutts and I, 
And Cutts' children three, 
Will fill the coach, so you must ride 
On horseback after we." 

This house came later into the possession of Mrs. Madison, 
who was compelled, for economy's sake, to rent it, in turn, to 
Attorney-General Crittenden, Hon. William C. Preston and Mr. 
Roosevelt, of New York. Here the accomplished Mrs. Roosevelt 
did honor to the home of Mrs. Madison by entertaining in true 
Knickerbocker style. 

The last years of Mrs. Madison's life were spent in this house. 
Her New Year's and Fourth of July receptions were honored by 
the same throng of visitors, dignitaries and strangers who had 
previously made their official visit to the President. After her 
death her house was purchased by Commodore Wilkes, who 
captured Mason and Slidell. 

During the war it was the headquarters of General McClellan. 
A sight of frequent occurrence, in those days, was the General 
with his chief-of-staff, General Marcy, his aids. Count de Chartres 
and Comte de Paris, with Prince de Joinville at their side, in full 
military costume, mounted, ready to gallop off over the Potomac 
hills. For many years it was rented to the French Claims Com- 
mission, and, at last, was purchased by the Cosmos Club. Under 
their supervision it has undergone extensive repairs, and is now 
the cheerful headquarters of the literati of Washington. 

A few rods to the south of this is the house once owned and 
occupied by Benjamin Ogle Tayloe. It was completed in 1828, 



l6o HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON: 

but owing to a want of affiliation with the incoming administra- 
tion of General Jackson, the house was leased by Thomas Swan, 
an eminent lawyer of Washington, and father of Governor Swan, 
of Maryland. 

Mr. Swan owned the house that has long been known as the 
home of W. W. Corcoran, and was leased to the Russian minister. 
Baron Krudener. 

When Mr. Tayloe came into possession of his home, for forty 
years he dispensed a liberal and elegant hospitality. He enter- 
tained under this roof the most eminent of his countrymen and 
the most distinguished foreigners that have visited this land. 
The last visit made by General William Henry Harrison to any 
private house, was to that of Mr. Tayloe, to whom he announced 
his intention of making his brother, Edward Tayloe, United States 
Treasurer. 

His long residence abroad as secretary to Minister Rush, at the 
court of St. James, did not alienate him from his love for his 
native land. His friends and his correspondence prove this. 
From a characteristic letter from his friend, R. R. Wormeley, of 
Newport, R. I., in 1850, we quote the following (President Zachary 
Taylor had just died) : " I deeply regret the demise of the late 
President and highly rejoice in that of his Cabinet. 

'There's a sweet little cherub that sits up aloft, 
To keep watch for the life of poor Jack. 

A union of lakes, a union of lands, 
A union of states none can sever ; 

A union of hearts, a union of hands, 
The American union forever. — ' 

will be my toast whenever called upon for the issues of my heart." 
In the latter part of February, 1859, when the tragical event 
took place of the shooting of Philip Barton Key by General Sick- 
les, the former was carried into the home of Mr. Tayloe, who was 
a relative of Key, where he died a few moments after. 

Mr. Tayloe was married in Troy, N. Y., in 1824, to Miss 
Julia Maria Dickinson. She was, by birth and education, fitted 
to adorn such a home. In the summer of 1855, she passed away. 
In years after, Mr, Tayloe married Miss Phcebe Warren, of Troy. 



V.,., 



•^v 




THE HOMES OF LA FAYETTE SQUARE. i6l 

He died in Rome, and upon the death of his wife, which occurred 
only four years ago, the Corcoran Art Gallery came into posses- 
sion of all the works of art that adorned this beautiful home, the 
gift of Mrs. Tayloe. A fine library, pictures, bric-a-brac and speci- 
mens of clyptic art comprise this collection. 

The house is now owned and occupied by Hon. J. D, Cameron, 

senator from Pennsylvania. 

******* 

Near the middle of the block stands the most historic building, 
perhaps, in the Square. The ground upon which this house was 
built was once owned by Henry Clay. 

It is told that he came into possession of it by the exercise of 
the profession which Mrs. Clay said did not disturb her, because 
he always won. He exchanged this lot with Commodore Rodg- 
ers, for a jackass which he had brought from a foreign port. 
The beast was transferred to his celebrated stock farm in Ken- 
tucky, and there is a tradition that the mules, for which old Ken- 
tucky is so famous, owe their origin to this braying grandfather of 
La Fayette Square. 

The house was built by Commodore Rodgers, who was known 
as the Nestor of the Navy. After his death it was the home of 
Roger B. Taney, while Secretary of the Treasury; then of Mr. 
Paulding, Secretary of the Navy. It subsequently became a club 
house, and was afterward sold, repaired and rented to ex-Gov- 
ernor William H. Seward, then Secretary of State. 

During the eight years that Mr. Seward occupied this house an 
elegant hospitality was extended that drew around him the fore- 
most men of the land. He held an important place among politi- 
cians. His "Higher Law" and his "Irrepressible Conflict" 
stamped him among the great minds in politics. 

When shadows penetrated this home in the attempted assassi- 
nation of Mr. Seward, sorrow sat upon every threshold of the 
nation. For months father and son languished on beds of suffer- 
ing from the merciless blows of "Payne. But the light of this 
home was not all darkened, until the lovely daughter, companion, 
confidante and comforter of the father, passed out of its portals to 
return no more forever. Always delicate, her fragile physique 
could not resist the shock of this crowning tragedy. With her 
II 



1 62 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON: 

going out, only a memory and a wailing was left the illustrious, 
broken-hearted father. In the years that have come and gone, 
new graves have opened ; father and daughter are joined in the 
better country, where nations cannot tremble and where affections 
cannot be severed. 

A little later and the grand saloon of the Seward house, with its 
tragedies and its shadows, presented new scenes, and festive 
seasons. The halls re-echoed mirthfulness and the walls sent 
back sweet sounds. General, and the incomparable Mrs. Belknap 
repeated the festivities of the old rdgime. She was a social queen 
of rare endowments ; but the summons came — there was a new 
made grave over which the winter winds moaned and other hearts 
were made desolate. The shadows of grief again fell over the old 
mansion. In the year that followed the old associations revived 
for a day, but with a flickering light ; and when the curtain fell 
again upon the festive scenes of the old home, it was to cover the 
weaknesses of human nature. 

It has since been used as Governmental headquarters for the 
Commissary Department, And lastly, the ample halls and grand 
saloon are being decorated and adorned with fresh frescoes and 
historic devices, for the leading genius of the Republican party, 
James G. Blaine. 

In 1862 Mr. Blaine took his seat in Congress. More than a 
quarter of a century has passed, and who is there among our 
public men to-day that could better tell our country's story ? 

In 1862 Abraham Lincoln, William H. Seward, Stephen A. 
Douglas, Charles Sumner, James A. Garfield, Chester A. Arthur, 
John A. Logan, Roscoe Conkling, Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jack- 
son, John B. Floyd were among the living. All have since passed 
before the Judge of all, and have answered for their mortal deeds. 

Mr. Blaine has seen the country pass from slavery to liberty ; 
from a country bound in chains to a nation robed in glory. In 
the changing kaleidoscope he has seen the national capital trans- 
formed from a miserable mockery of a city into a magnificent 
metropolis. 

The beauteous city of Washington itself he found in chains, 
and now he sees it free. Not only has Mr, Blaine been a witness 
to all these changes, but his finger has been on the heart of the 



THE HOMES OF LA FAYETTE SQUARE. 163 

nation, and he has noted its every pulsation. He has seen the 
political, social and intellectual revolution and watched its 
results, and noted that joy has come to the multitude and sorrow 
by means of it to none. He has seen candidates of party prefer- 
ment come and go, like Clay, Webster, Seward, Calhoun and 
Douglas; and if he himself has sometimes felt the sharp sting 
of disappointment, he has been in illustrious company. And yet 
James G. Blaine cannot be blind to the fact that there is not an 
American to-day who has so strong a hold on his friends, not a 
man of whom the nation will be so proud, when jealousies and 
animosities cease, as of James G. Blaine. His personal mag- 
netism, his dignified yet courteous bearing, his profound states- 
manship bring to him the admiration of his friends and the 
respect of his political enemies. 

This great man, whose fame needs no expansion from my pen, 
will ever remain at the top of the list of American statesmen. 
His services to his country are recorded in the annals of our time, 
and will prove an incentive to glorious endeavor, to thousands of 
youths now living, as well as to thousands yet unborn. The won- 
drous personal magnetism of this distinguished man is a theme 
upon which many pens have been exerted, only to prove their 
insufficiency. My own would figure in this list were I to attempt 
to describe the indescribable. 

I have felt the charm of his manner in personal interview, and 
can only say that nothing more dignified, and yet more winning 
have I met. His commanding person, his intellectual features, 
his agreeable voice, his amazing facility for saying the right thin a- 
at the right time, are points which leave all comparison with arty 
statesman now living far behind. 

And now his footstep is on the threshold of the Seward home ; 
a fit occupant within these walls, sacred with national memories. 
No location in Washington is more attractive ; opposite the wav- 
ing green of La Fayette Square; the home of the Presidents on the 
left. In the atmosphere of homes of near a century's growth, he 
will take up the pen of history with hopes and honor, and add 
another page to his country's glory. 

Last of all is restful La Fayette Square itself. Not a century 
ago a corner of this Square was marked by the headstones of 



164 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

dead Powtomacs. Ancient apple trees spread their scraggy 
branches over truant boys, who munched the toothsome fruit to 
their hearts' content ; now forest trees and velvet lawns beckon 
you to rest. In the grateful shade, through the vista of green 
which casts lights and shadows on flowers and happy childhood, 
you see the manly form of the " Hero of New Orleans " mounted 
on his mettled charger. While sitting there with the blue sky 
and the arcade of tender green over you, in the peacefulness 
of the moment, you forget the burden of tragedy and tears that 
these homes, surrounding this Square, represent, the light threads 
and the dark that have been woven into the warp and woof of the 
country's history. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

THE HOMES OF CHARLES SUMNER, W. W. CORCORAN AND REVERDV 

JOHNSON. 

Sumner's Classic Home — The Successor of Daniel Webster — A Man of Dig- 
nified Appearance — Ben. Perley Poore, his Clerk — Estrangement from 
Grant — Both numbered with the Great Majority — His Study — Love of the 
Beautiful — Connoisseur in Art — Instinctive Love of Freedom — Eulogy — 
The Home of Corcoran — The former Home of Daniel Webster — Mr. Cor- 
coran's Sympathies with the South — The true Story of the Complication — 
A memorable Despatch — The French Minister — Marquis de Montholon's 
Ball — Two conspicuous Women present — Sir Frederic Bruce — Dancing at 
five o'clock in the Morning — Other Scenes — Mr. Corcoran returns to 
America — Home of John Slidell — Sold his Birthright — Died in England — 
Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy — Home of Reverdy Johnson — An 
uncompromising Union Man — If Walls were Phonographs, what they 
would tell — The Votes of Fessenden and Grimes — A secret Conference — 
The Acquittal of President Johnson — An undecided Question — People 
who have occupied these Rooms — President the last — Another Landmark 
gone. 

On the corner, diagonally across the street from the Madison 
house, stands a red brick house with white shades and mansard 
roof. This was once the classic home of Charles Sumner. 

When in Washington, for the last nine years that he was in the 
United States Senate, he lived in this house. 

For a period of twenty-three years Mr. Sumner filled his chair 

in the Senate as the successor of Daniel Webster. By nature and 

I by education he was preeminently fitted for the work before him, 

extolling what he thought was noble, and denouncing what he 

believed to be wrong. 

No visitor in Congress, during that time, but can recall his 
upright carriage and dignified presence — a man fit to succeed the 
immortal Webster. His life was devoted to an unending effort to 
secure for a wronged and degraded race the rights of men. 

x6s 



1 66 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

When Brooks struck him down in the Senate chamber, he was 
destined to suffer bodily as few men have suffered. What he had 
to say on resuming his seat after a three years' absence, in which 
he endured agonies from the blow of Brooks, was like the man. 

"I have no personal griefs to utter; only a vulgar egotism 
could intrude such into this chamber. I have no personal wrongs 
to avenge ; only a brutal nature could attempt to wield that 
vengeance which belongs to the Lord. The years that have inter- 
vened and the tombs that have opened since I spoke, have their 
voices, too, which I cannot fail to hear. Besides, what am I, or 
what is any man among the living, or among the dead, compared 
with the question before us ? " 

He was ever ready to attack evil in its strongest hold ; and, 
like the knight of Ivanhoe in the tournament, he struck with the 
sharp end of his spear the shield of its bravest champion. 

When the Republicans came into power in 1861, Mr. Sumner 
was made chairman of the Senate committee of Foreign Affairs, a 
position for which he was well fitted by his knowledge of the 
history, literature and language of other countries. He spoke 
French like a native, and foreigners from the Diplomatic Corps 
visited his home frequently for social as well as business purposes. 

His selection for clerk of his committee was the late eminent 
author and journalist. Major Ben. Perley Poore. This appoint- 
ment was made in full confidence of the Major's fitness for 
the position, and his friendship for the man. For years he 
held this position with Mr. Sumner, and was afterward pro- 
moted to a more lucrative office. 

When Mr. Sumner became estranged from General Grant and 
his Cabinet, it will be remembered that " Perley," in his dis- 
patches and letters, antagonized his old friend and strongly 
favored the President. Many of Mr. Sumner's friends did not 
follow him. Some of them brought these letters to his notice. 
He would not read them, but would say : " I like him too well to 
read his letters ; I like the person, not the writer. We are each 
doing what we believe to be our duty. Why should we quarrel .'' " 

Both these men are numbered with the great majority. Other 
issues have come into the body politic and the disintegrating proc- 
ess of breaking friendships still goes on. 



THREE HOMES. i6j 

The years Mr. Sumner gave to the study of art and to the lan- 
guages made him a man of elegant accomplishments, which always 
brought him the society of the educated and the cultured in the 
land. His study, which was a large room on the second floor, 
overlooking Vermont Avenue, was richly filled with engravings, 
books and manuscripts. He loved all that was beautiful. In the 
study of engravings he had acquired a knowledge even of lace 
manufacture, and to him it was one of the fine arts. He studied 
it as he would color, or perspective, and it is said of him that he 
knew more of laces than most ladies. He was also a connois- 
seur in ceramics ; his home was filled with gems of rare old 
china, and specimens of oriental, ancient and modern pottery 
adorned his cabinets. He brought himself face to face with 
Phoenician thought, and from the wonders of the Kurium temple 
he read the records of the past, and did not doubt the inventive 
genius, the aesthetic taste, the beautiful ideas that made them 
masters of their art. 

After all, it was his high moral qualities that gave him emi- 
nence in his own country and throughout the world. Charles 
Sumner was born with an instinctive love of freedom, and believed 
that it was the indefeasible right of every being created in God's 
image. 

The world will voice the sentiments of a brother senator in his 
eulogy of this good man : 

"When the men, not yet grown old, are gone, who shared the 
studies, the hopes, the joys of this youth of richest promise ; when 
no man lives who remembers the form of manly beauty and manly 
strength, and the tones of the mellow and far-sounding voice 
which arraigned the giant crimes of all ages ; when no survivor is 
left of the fifteen years of strife, labor, and anxiety, and danger, 
and victory which began with the Fugitive Slave law, and ended 
with Appomattox and the adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment; 
when the feet are dust that are wont to cross the threshold of that 
hospitable home with its treasures of art and literature ; when the 
eloquent voices of eulogy from orator, poet and pulpit are tradi- 
tions and not a memory, the character of Charles Sumner will still 
be an efficient force in history and will still have a higher place 
than now in the gratitude of mankind." 

A few rods from the house, once the home of Charles Sumner, 



1 63 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

on the corner of Connecticut Avenue and H Street, passing La 
Fayette Square, stands the house of W. W. Corcoran. In the 
long ago, before it came into the possession of the present owner, 
many of the dignitaries of Washington had lived there. 

Before, and during the Mexican war it was occupied by the Brit- 
ish minister, Mr. Pakenham. Here he kept open house, and it 
was the scene of festivities which admit of no rivals even in this 
day of lavish expenditure. 

Previous to Mr. Corcoran's purchase it was owned by Daniel 
Webster, having been presented to the Massachusetts statesman 
by his admiring friends. Here he resided while Secretary of State, 
and many of the brilliant entertainments of that day were given 
within its halls. 

When Mr. Webster left the Cabinet, he found he could not 
afford the expense of such an establishment. Mr. Webster is a 
fair example of the fact that the gift of ten talents is rarely made 
to one person, and his deficiency seemed to be an utter want of 
financial ability ; he was ever an impecunious man. Mr. Corcoran 
made many improvements to the property after Mr. Webster lived 
there. 

At the outbreak of the war, as is well known, Mr. Corcoran's 
sympathies were with the South. He did not wish to identify 
himself actively with the cause, and therefore decided to go 
abroad, where he remained until the long struggle was ended. 

There have been many stories regarding the attempt to confis- 
cate the property by the Government, but we believe the true one 
to be this, coming from the lips of Mr. Corcoran's confidential 
agent, the venerable and courtly gentleman, Mr. Hyde. 

After Mr. Corcoran had left the city and was still in New York, 
Mr. Hyde on Sunday morning received orders to have the house 
cleared by Tuesday, as it was to be occupied by the Government. 
He immediately telegraphed Mr. Corcoran, whose reply was that 
he had sometime before rented the house to the French minister, 
M. de Montholon. 

This dispatch never reached the hands of Mr. Hyde. Monday 
he called upon the proper officials and told them they could take 
the house ; he should not undertake to move, in one day, all those 
wonderful works of art, household gods, etc., he might just as well 



THREE HOMES. 169 

leave them there. They politely told him they had changed their 
minds, and De Montholon took possession. 

In February, 1866, when General Grant was stationed in Wash- 
ington as Commander-in-chief of the army, M. de Montholon, 
who retained the house for the French Legation, issued cards of 
invitation for the most magnificent ball that was ever given at the 
capital. The ball was given by the order of Louis Napoleon, in 
consequence of which the French ship, then lying at Annapolis, 
was ordered here, that her officers might attend the entertainment. 
The city was filled with officers of the United States army in full 
uniform, which added greatly to the brilliant appearance of the 
affair. 

The Marquise de Montholon wore a magnificent dress covered 
with jewelled fleur-de-lis, ordered from Paris for the occasion ; 
across her breast was the order of Napoleon and that of the house 
of De Montholon. 

There were two women present as brides, whose names were 
conspicuous, not only at home but abroad. One was Mrs. Kate 
Chase Sprague, whose remarkable beauty was world renowned. 
She appeared in a dress of white moire, striped with green, wear- 
ing in her dark auburn hair an antique tiara of emeralds and dia- 
monds. 

The other bride was the wife of General Williams, and was for- 
merly Mrs. Stephen A. Douglas. She wore her bridal costume of 
white silk with tulle overdress, and strands of pearls in her hair 
and about her throat. 

The dancing should have commenced at two o'clock, but owing 
to the crowd, five o'clock in the morning saw Sir Frederic Bruce, 
then minister from the court of St. James, lead the first cotillion. 

General Grant's partner was Miss Harris, who was in the box at 
the theatre with President Lincoln, the night of his assassination. 
She afterward married Colonel Rathbone, and, it will be remem- 
bered, met her tragic death at his hands a few years ago in 
Berlin. 

The dancing lasted until daylight ; the gentlemen did not even 
"go home with the girls in the morning." A royal breakfast was 
served for many of the company, after which the gentlemen 
departed for their several places of business, while several of the 



lyo HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

ladies made their round of calls at morning receptions in party 
dress. 

After peace was declared Mr, Corcoran returned from his wan- 
derings in foreign lands, since which time, up to his death, he 
resided in his beautiful home, living in a quiet way, spending the 
evening of his life in dispensing benefactions with a princely hand. 

He erected the Church of the Ascension, a fine white marble 
structure, one of the handsomest in the city. He was bountiful 
in private charities, as many young business men can testify ; but 
the gems of his endowments are the Art Gallery and the Louise 
Home. 

The next house east of Mr. Corcoran's was formerly owned by 
Mr. Ritchie, the distinguished editor and Government printer. 
After his death Mr. John Slidell, senator from Louisiana, became 
its occupant, and stepped out of it when he stepped into the 
Southern Confederacy. Mr. Slidell was born in New York and 
educated at Columbia College ; but he subsequently took his 
birthright and his education and planted them in New Orleans. 
The fruit they bore him proved exceedingly bitter to the taste. 
In the autumn of 1861 he was sent as Commissioner to France, at 
the same time that Mr. Mason had a like appointment to England. 
Captain Wilkes, of the United States frigate, San Jaci7ito,\i02ixA^6L 
the British mail-steamer, Trc?it, and arrested the commissioners, 
who were confined in Fort Warren, Boston Harbor. They were 
afterwards released on the demand of the British Government, 
and sailed for England ; after which Mr. Slidell had as little use 
for his country as his country had for him. He settled in Eng- 
land and died there in 187 1. 

After Mr. Slidell left the house, Gideon Welles, Secretary of the 
Navy, occupied it during- his term of office. His striking figure 
will be well remembered by all those who have ever seen him. 
His long white beard and heavy white wig distinguished him, and 
gave him tlie look of the heavy grandfather in a genteel comedy. 

The Hon. Reverdy Johnson, when Attorney-General under 
President Taylor, built the house that has been known, for many 
years, as the Johnson Annex to the Arlington Hotel. 



THREE HOMES. 



171 



It was more prominently known as the home of Mr. Johnson 
during the time he was senator from Maryland, when the country 
was going through its darkest days from 1863 to 1868. 

It will be remembered that Reverdy Johnson was an uncom- 
promising Union man. He was the only border state senator 
that voted for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia. 

The characters of our public men might be better known and 
the mysteries of government better understood, if the walls of 
many of these historic homes were phonographs, and could be set 
talking at will, revealing the secrets of the conferences held in the 
last thirty years. 

What politician, in fact, what man is there in this Republic that 
would not like to turn the crank and listen to the arguments used 
in the conference convened in the Johnson house, that decided, on 
February 22, 1868, the votes of Mr. Fessenden and Mr. Grimes, 
with whom lay the balance of power which acquitted President 
Johnson, who had been impeached for high crimes and misde- 
meanors ? Again would be heard pledges that were exacted and 
given. They must, at least, have been, satisfactory to Mr. Fessen- 
den, for when Chief-Justice Chase in his impressive manner, 
asked, " Mr. Senator Fessenden, how say you, is the respondent, 
Andrew Johnson, guilty as charged?" he firmly replied, "Not 
Guilty." Mr. Grimes voted the same. They fulfilled their pledge ! 
It is well known that Mr. Fessenden, while not wholly in sym- 
pathy with all the accusations of the prosecuting party, had grave 
misgivings of the fidelity of Mr. Johnson to his party. 

Whether President Johnson was faithful to the pledge he made 
and solemnized at the conference held in this house, contem- 
porary history must decide. 

Lovely women and eminent men from all over the world have 
peopled these rooms. The last party of note that occupied this 
house was the Presidential party of Benjamin Harrison, which 
was here one week before the inauguration and occupancy of the 
White House. 

Workmen are now busily engaged in tearing down this house, 
to give space for the enlargement of the Arlington Hotel. With 
it another of the landmarks of Washington passes away. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

THE HOMES OF DANIEL WEBSTER, GEORGE BANCROFT, JOHN HAY, 
THOMAS RITCHIE, MONTGOMERY BLAIR, AND ADMIRAL PORTER. 

Last Home of Webster — A King among Men — A sentimental Side to his 
Life — Grace Fletcher — " Precious Documents " — A born Genius — The 
Constitution — A Bit of History — A memorable Picture — In Congress — 
Webster and Clay Rivals — Personal Relations of Webster and Calhoun — 
Seventh of March Speech — Calhoun's Present — Calhoun's Death — Mr. 
Webster's Relations with Mr. Benton — A touching Interview — Burying the 
Hatchet — Nomination of General Scott — Disappointment of Mr. Webster 
— His last Speech — A graceful Effort — His Career as a Politician ended — 
Mr. Webster's Death — A Giant in repose — George Bancroft — Change in 
Society — Rank no Passport to polite Society — A man of Letters — Pen 
Picture — Lives among his Books — History of the United States — In the 
Atmosphere of the History-making Republic — With the Iron Pen of 
History — Making Record — The Changes he has witnessed — His Flowers 
and his Friends — The People he has seen — An honored Citizen — John 
Hay's Home — Where situated — Among the Homes of the Literati — 
History of Abraham Lincoln — " Pike County Ballads " — " Castilian Days " 
— Mr. Nicolay — Thomas Ritchie — The Newspaper Fraternity — All have 
Passed away — Editor of the Richmond IV/iig — Superseded Blair & Rives 
— A genteel old Fogy — An Estrangement — " How great a matter a 
little fire kindleth" — His Home on G Street — The A^afional Tribune — The 
Slidell House — A Destiny that shapes our Ends — The Blair Mansion 
— Built by Dr. Lovell — Purchased by Francis P. Blair, Sr. — An ancient 
Gentleman and Lady — Mr. Blair a warm Friend of " Old Hickory " — The 
Home rented to George Bancroft — Secretary of the Navy — John T. 
Mason — The Home of Thomas Ewing — Marriage of General W. T. Sher- 
man — The boy "Cump" — "Tom" Corwin in President Fillmore's Cab- 
inet — Occupied this House — A Bridal Party — Montgomery Blair — A Man 
of many Virtues — The Porter Mansion — Built by Richard Rush — Pur- 
chased by Hamilton Fish — The Misses Caton — Anecdote of William the 
Fourth — Sir Frederic Bruce — Lord Napier — Lord Lyons — Brilliant Enter- 

172 



HOMES OF HISTORIC MEN. 



173 



tainment — The present Occupant — Admiral David D. Porter — His Ability 
as Commander-in-chief— Who the Admiral married — The Admiral's Fam- 
ily — The Admiral an Author. 

The last home of Daniel Webster in Washington, the picture of 
which is here given, is on Louisiana Avenue, between Fifth and 
Sixth Streets, and is now known as the Webster Law Building. 
It was those of his friends who possessed the open sesame to 
his fireside who know the better part of Daniel Webster. 

It is not upon his public life that we shall mostly dwell ; that is 
already well known. Mr. Webster has written his own biography. 
We know what share he had in the moulding and shaping of pub- 
lic opinion. We appreciate his influence upon the history of this 
country. That is already stereotyped upon the hearts of his coun- 
trymen. No one who has ever seen Mr. Webster will need any 
aid to memory to recall his personal appearance. His command- 
ing figure, large head, broad chest, penetrating eyes, deep-set and 
enkindled by glowing thoughts, can never be forgotten. He was 
a king among men. 

This old home was the place where his friends learned the depth 
of his friendship, his kindness of heart, his sweetness of temper. 
Men like Edward Everett, Rufus Choate, William Wirt, John Mar- 
shall, Mr. Seaton and scores more, learned here of the pathetic 
and the humorous side in his home life. 

ISTo one need question but that the great statesman, orator, and 
diplomat had also a sentimental side to his life. 

When he was a young lawyer he met in Portsmouth, Grace 
Fletcher, who afterwards became his wife. He was a frequent 
visitor at her house. One evening he had been assisting her in 
untieing skeins, of silk, when he suddenly stopped, and looking up 
into her face, said : *' Grace, we have been engaged in untieing 
knots ; let us see if we cannot tie a knot which will not untie for 
a lifetime." He then took a piece of tape and partly tied a knot 
of peculiar style, and passed it to her to finish. This was the 
proposal and ratification of their engagement. After his death a 
little box was found among his belongings, upon which was writ- 
ten with his own hand, " Precious documents. " When opened 
there were disclosed the early letters of his courtship and the 
piece of tape ; the knot had never been untied. 



174 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON: 

When we recall man}' incidents of his boyhood's life, the grand 
consummation of his manhood, and the close of his illustrious ca- 
reer, we say Daniel Webster was born a genius. His mind like 
the rough, rugged New Hampshire mountains that surrounded his 
birthplace, was fashioned in a giant mould. 

The fires of the Revolution were smothered under the furrows 
turned by the plowshares of peace. The breath of liberty had 
driven back to old England's shores the wrecks of power, wealth 
and glory. Out of all the discord, bold and heroic thought was 
weaving that mighty prodigy of wisdom, the grand charter of 
American liberty, the Constitution ! About this time the boy, 
Webster, chanced to be sent to a neighboring store. He there 
found a curiosity, or what was such to him. 

It was a pocket handkerchief, covered over with something 
printed in good fair type. All the money he had in the world was 
twenty-five cents, and that was exactly the price of the rare spec- 
imen of literature. Of course the bookish boy bought it and took 
it home. That evening, until very late, he sat by the large fire- 
place in the presence of his father and mother, perusing and re- 
perusing, studying and committing to memory the remarkable 
treasure thus obtained. 

Who can reveal the impressions and results of that memorable 
night? What Munkacsy or Millet will picture the event? It was 
Daniel Webster reading for the first time the Constitution of the 
United States. 

It was during the month of November, 1812, after war was de- 
clared with England by President Monroe, that Daniel Webster 
first allowed his name to be brought forward as a candidate for 
office. There seemed to be a crisis in the country, and he 
yielded to his country's demands. 

This election brought him the first time to Congress. His trip 
here he often related and pictured as no other man could. He 
would tell how he lumbered along at the rate of four miles an 
hour in an old mail-coach from Portsmouth to Boston ; from Bos- 
ton over to Hartford he worked his passage round by land, a long 
and weary way ; then to New Haven and on to New York City; and 
how he progressed, day after day, though the state of New Jersey ; 
and of his speculations with Governor Stockton as to the practi- 



HOMES OF HISTORIC MEN. 1 75 

cability of some day making the trip by water. How he entered 
Philadephia in a big wagon, and thence to Baltimore ; and from 
Baltimore to Washington through many perils ; and how, after 
nearly two weeks of laborious travel, he found himself, on the 
twenty-fourth of May, at the seat of government, in no plight to 
stand before the assembled wisdom of the nation. 

Daniel Webster and Henry Clay were political and oratorical 
rivals. For twenty-five years these men contended for the leader- 
ship of the Whig party and for its preference for the Presidency. 
They served side by side in the House and in the Senate, each in 
turn occupying the office of Secretary of State. They died within 
a few months of each other. 

The personal relations between Mr. Webster and Mr. Calhoun 
were of the pleasantest and friendliest character. 

A touching incident occurred between these men at the time 
Mr. Webster made his famous Seventh of March speech, in which 
he abandoned the Wilmot proviso and justified the Fugitive Slave 
law, for which he received much adverse criticism. 

The venerable South Carolina senator was very ill in his room 
at the old Capitol building. Mr. Webster had called upon him a 
few days previous. The coming speech was alluded to. Mr. Cal- 
houn expressed a wish to hear it. Mr. Webster replied that he 
hoped Mr. Calhoun would be able to get to the Senate. Mr. Cal- 
houn shook his head sadly, and remarked that he feared that he 
should never again leave the sick-room. Mr. Webster parted from 
him, fully impressed that his days were numbered. Mr. Webster 
had not been speaking long when a tall, gaunt figure, wrapped in 
a long black cloak, with deep, cavernous black eyes and a thick 
mass of snow white hair brushed back from the large brow and 
falling to the shoulders, advanced with slow and feeble steps 
through the lobby behind the Vice-President's chair; and then, 
aided by one of the senators, approached and sank into a chair on 
the opposite side of the chamber. Mr. Webster's face was turned 
from him, so that he did not see the almost apparition enter. In 
the course of the speech he alluded to something Mr. Calhoun 
had once said in debate as "the utterance of the distinguished 
and venerable senator from South Carolina, who, I deeply regret, 
is prevented by serious illness from being in his seat to-day." 



I J 6 HIS TORIC HOMES IN WASHING TON. 

Mr. Calhoun moved restlessly in his chair, his head and body 
bent eagerly forward, and he made a great effort to rise and inter- 
rupt the orator. He sank back, evidently exhausted, and Mr. 
Webster, all unconscious of his presence, kept on with the majes- 
tic flow of Websterian eloquence. Presently he had occasion to 
refer to Mr, Calhoun again, as " the eminent senator from South 
Carolina whom we all regret so much to miss from such a cause 
from his seat to-day. " 

Mr. Calhoun again grew restless, his hands nervously grasped 
the chair, his black eyes grew fiercer in their eagerness, he half 
rose from his seat and in his old voice exclaimed, " The senator 
from South Carolina is in his seat. " 

Mr. Webster turned towards him with a startled look, and when 
he saw that his friend had actually arisen from a bed of death to 
creep to the Capitol in his weakness, to hear his speech, he for a 
time was too much overcome to proceed with his argument. He 
acknowledged the touching compliment by a bow, and with a sad 
smile on his face proceeded with his speech. 

But a few days more and Calhoun lay dead in state within 
those walls ! Political and party prejudices often bring sad es- 
trangements among men, but let the finger of Providence be laid 
upon a man, and how soon these prejudices fade into thin air and 
the better part of true manhood comes to the surface ! 

Mr. Webster and Mr. Benton were hardly on speaking terms for 
many years. They would pass in and out of the same door with 
out recognizing each other with a bow. There existed no social 
relations between them ; but at the time of the gun explosion on 
board the Princeton, during Mr. Tyler's administration, Mr. Benton 
was on board and Mr. Webster has left on record this interview : 

" Mr. Benton related to me with tears this incident : He said 
he was standing near the gun in the very best position to see the 
experiment. The deck of the steamer was crowded, and, in the 
scramble for places to witness the discharge of the gun, his posi- 
tion was perhaps the most favorable one on the deck. Suddenly 
he felt a hand laid upon his shoulder and turned. Some one 
wished to speak to him and he was elbowed out of his place and 
another person took it, very much to his annoyance. The person 
who exchanged places with him was ex-Governor Gilmer, of Vir- 
ginia, then Secretary of the Navy. Just at that instant the gun 



HOMES OF HISTORIC MEN. 177 

was fired and the explosion took place. Governor Gilmer was 
instantly killed ; several others also were killed. Colonel Benton, 
in relating this circumstance, said : ' It seemed to me, Mr. Web- 
ster, as if that touch on my shoulder was the hand of the Almighty 
stretched down there, drawing me away from what otherwise would 
have been instantaneous death. I was only prostrated on the 
deck and recovered in a short time. That one circumstance has 
changed the whole current of my thoughts and life. I feel that I 
am a different man, and I want in the first place to be at peace 
with all those with whom I have been so sharply at variance. 
And so I have come to you. Let us bury the hatchet, Mr. Web- 
ster.' ' Nothing,' replied I, ' could be more in accordance with 
my own feelings.' We shook hands and agreed to let the past be 
past. From that time our intercourse was pleasant and cordial. 
After this, there was no person in the Senate of the United States 
of whom I could ask a favor, any reasonable and proper thing, 
with more assurance of its being gratified." 

There can be no doubt that the nomination of General Scott at 
the Whig convention in Baltimore, was a bitter disappointment to 
Mr. Webster, but his midnight speech after the convention, when 
his friends called upon him, gave no sound of his disquietude. 

Mr. Boutwell in " The Lawyer, the Statesman and the Soldier," 
says : *' He was then impaired seriously in health, and .in spirits 
he was broken completely. His speech is worthy of notice as a 
singularly graceful effort and as the last brilliant spark of his 
expiring genius. 

" ' I thank you, fellow-citizens, for your friendly and respectful 
call. I am very glad to see you. Some of you have been engaged 
in an arduous public duty at Baltimore, the object of your meeting 
being the selection of a fit person to be supported for the office of 
President of the United States. Others of you take an interest in 
the result of the deliberations of that assembly of Whigs. It so 
happened that my name among others was presented on that 
occasion. Another candidate, however, was preferred. 

"'I have only to say, gentlemen, that the convention did, I doubt 
not, what it thought best and exercised its discretion in the impor- 
tant matter committed to it. The result has caused me no per- 
sonal feeling whatever, nor any change of conduct or purpose. 

" 'What I have been I am, in principle and character ; and what 
I am, I hope to continue to be. 

'"Circumstances or opponents may triumph over my fortunes, 
but they will not triumph over my temper or my self-respect. 

" ' Gentlemen, this is a serene and beautiful night. Ten thou- 
12 



178 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

sand thousand of the lights of heaven illuminate the firmament. 
They rule the night. A few hours hence their glory will be 
extinguished. 

' Ye stars that glitter in the skies, 
And gaily dance before my eyes, 
What are ye when the sun shall rise ? 

" * Gentlemen, there is not one among you who will sleep better 
to-night than I shall. If I wake I shall learn the hour from the 
constellations, and I shall rise in the morning, God willing, with 
the lark ; and though the lark is a better songster than I am, yet 
he will not leave the dew and the daisies, and spring upward to 
greet the purpling east with a more jocund spirit than I possess. 
Gentlemen, I again repeat my thanks for this mark of your re- 
spect, and commend you to the enjoyment of a quiet and satisfact- 
ory repose. May God bless you all.' " 

Mr. Boutwell adds, " His career as a politician was ended. He 
returned to Massachusetts, broken in spirit, if not altogether 
crushed." 

" In the case of Mr. Webster, death did not destroy nor even 
qualify the physical marks of his intellectual greatness. When he 
lay in his coffin under the elms at Mansfield his form appeared as 
majestic as when he stood upon the rostrum in Faneuil Hall. 

"His brow was massive, his eyes were large, deep-sunken and 
surrounded by a dark circle. His face was emaciated, but the en- 
graved lines of toil and care remained. He seemed a giant in re- 
pose. " 

Persons who visit Washington and have seen only the Capitol, 
strolled through the public buildings, sailed down the Potomac, 
taken the drive to the Soldiers' Home and Arlington, been crushed 
at a Presidential reception and gazed at dignitaries to their 
hearts' content, and feel that Washington has nothing more to 
offer, know very little of the personnel of the unofficial social life. 

In the not-far-away past the official life was paramount. The 
prestige of high orders carried the palm in the social world, and 
many who were socially unknown at home, have been surprised 
upon their advent here into public life, to find themselves suddenly 
courted and flattered by an itinerant population who had favors to 
ask, in the way of private entertainments, social dissipations, or 



HOMES OF HISTORIC MEN. 1 79 

influence for some position in office. The axes to grind are many, 
the turners comparatively few. 

A marked change has taken place in the last decade in society 
at large. The capital has become the winter residence of families 
of culture, wealth, position and leisure from all the states. 

The importance of this unofficial element is steadily increasing 
and it exercises a marked influence. The prestige of rank is no 
passport to polite society, unless backed by true worth. 

George Bancroft, the historian, stands out preeminent among 
those in unofficial society. Although he has filled many offices 
under the Government, having been a member of Mr. Polk's Cab- 
inet as Secretary of the Navy, and subsequently changed to Minis- 
ter to England, and in 1867 Minister to Prussia, yet it is as a man 
of letters that his name is on the lips of every true American. 

His "History of the United States" has been the "most suc- 
cessful attempt yet made to reduce the chaotic, but rich materials 
of American history to order, beauty and moral significance. " 

Almost any pleasant afternoon he can be seen taking his usual 
exercise, either in a carriage, on horseback, or walking. 

Picture a man slender in figure, of medium height, with a vener- 
able covering of silvered hair and whiskers surrounding the thin 
classic face, soft blue eyes that have done service through the 
years, and yet undimmed, and you see the patriarchal historian as 
he looks to-day. 

His home is a spacious mansion not far from that of the Pres- 
ident's, and here in his pleasant workshop, in the second story of 
this house, he lives among his books, his pictures and the mem- 
ories of a century nearly gone. 

He lives in the very atmosphere of this history-making Republic. 
Within sight of his study windows are the homes of Commodores 
Decatur and Rodgers, the latter where the attempt was made to 
assassinate Secretary Seward. On the opposite side of the square 
is the house in which Dan Sickles lived, and on the north side the 
house out of which Slidell stepped into the Southern Confederacy. 

And when Mason and Slidell had been, at the demand of the 
English government, released from Fort Warren and sailed for 
Europe, and recognition of the Confederate States by England and 
France was imminent, it was from the old Seward house that the 



l8o HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON: 

Secretary telegraphed to his Fidus Achates, Thurlow Weed, to 
come to Washington ; and in this house the personnel of the com- 
mission that was to represent the side of the Union was discussed. 

Archbishop Hughes, a Roman Catholic of New York, Bishop 
Mcllvaine, an Episcopalian of Ohio, and Thurlow Weed, went 
abroad and quietly and effectively presented their side of the 
question. By their influence, earnestness and powerful argument 
they made such an impression that Mason and Slidell soon dis- 
covered their mission was doomed — that the Confederate States 
would not be recognized. 

A short distance to the east is the house in which Charles 
Sumner lived, and on the corner, diagonally across, is the house in 
which Dolly Madison, in regal turbans, kept pace with the new 
regime in receiving her friends. 

Mr. Bancroft has seen one set of political giants succeeded by 
another — old men pass away and new men take their places. He 
saw slavery's dark pall hang over Washington, and in the dissolv- 
ing view, when slavery disappeared, he saw the beautiful citj of 
to-day emerge from the mist cloud. 

He saw Stephen A. Douglas, Charles Sumner, Benjamin F. 
Wade, William H. Seward, John C. Breckenridge, Robert Toombs, 
John Slidell and Andrew Johnson, each the leader of men and of 
contending theories, floating on the sea of public opinion that 
stranded slavery. And this venerable spectator, alone, to-day, 
survives them all, and with the iron pen of history is recording the 
parts they played in imperishable pages. 

He has seen free labor organized and rewarded, and with it the 
popular cry for improvement. He saw the years pass by that 
brought Grant forward to succeed Johnson, and he saw men come 
to the front who were willing to take responsibility, that Washing- 
ton city might be placed on the high plane of her municipal 
sisters. 

With Alexander Shepherd at the head, this chronicler of events 
will note that within a few months a magical transition was 
wrought, that the miserable mockery of a metropolis was " bossed " 
into one of the magnificent cities of the world. The Argus eye of 
this historian has, from his windows, watched this progress and 
will pfive honor to whom honor is due. 



HOMES OF HISTORIC MEN. 1 8 1 

The little plots of green in front of his time-honored mansion, 
filled with tulips and hyacinths, bring many visitors to feast their 
eyes on the harmony of color, the product of Mr. Bancroft's love 
of flowers. 

This garden plot is as much in keeping with his nature as the 
books which are his companions, and the friends which surround 
him with a congenial, social atmosphere. 

When you take the hand of this man of years and experience, 
you are transported without effort over the way he has travelled. 
He takes you through the quaint old streets of Weimar, and when 
you touch the hand that touched Goethe's, Faust and Marguerita 
are realities before you. He was intimate with Humboldt, and 
Sevigny, the great jurist, was his friend. Manzoni was his acquaint- 
ance at Milan and Chevalier Bunsen at Rome ; and in Italy, Byron 
sang him the songs he wove. In Paris, Guizot, Lamartine and De 
Tocqueville were his companions. He has survived them all, and 
no greater honor can be paid to George Bancroft than to say that 
he is the honored citizen of this glorious Republic that he has 
helped to immortalize. 

But a few doors to the east of Mr. Bancroft's, on the corner of 
H and Sixteenth Streets, is the home of John Hay. By virtue of its 
age it has no place among the historic homes of Washington, yet 
its Romanesque architecture gives it the appearance of a home 
that will become historic in the generations to come. 

Among the homes of the literati it has a place, and the genius 
within its walls has but to look out of the windows across La Fay- 
ette park to the home of the Presidents, to touch the spring of 
memory and recall pages of history with which he was closely con- 
nected, and which must ever be an inspiration to his work on the 
" History of Abraham Lincoln, " wherein he sifts out of the waste 
wreck of time the records of human experience. 

The poetic genius of " Pike County Ballads, " or " Castilian 
Days," was laid aside when, with the cooperation of Mr. Nicolay, 
late Marshal of the Supreme Court, he began the task of writing 
the Memoirs of Abraham Lincoln for the " Century Magazine." 

It is well for America, where no faithful scribes like Boswell, 
Pepys, or Crabbe Robinson have kept a daily record of events, 



1 82 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

that these men, out of the inner recesses of memory and daily life, 
can chronicle what bids fair to be the most exhaustive memoirs 
ever written of any man and any period since the Mayflower 
landed at Plymouth Rock, 

A volume might be written of the men who have come before 
the public and passed away, among the newspaper fraternity ; be- 
ginning with Joseph Gales and William Winston Seaton, followed 
by Duffy Green, Amos Kendall, Francis P. Blair, John B. Rives 
and Thomas Ritchie. None of these men survive, and even the 
papers with which they were connected have passed out of exist- 
ence, all excepting the Globe. 

Mr. Ritchie, who for many years was the powerful editor of the 
RicJunond Enquirer, and who swayed for years the Democratic 
party of Virginia, was called to Washington by James K. Polk in 
1844. He superseded the old Jackson firm of Blair «& Rives. 
His home for a time was on G Street, between Fourteenth and Fif- 
teenth, a small, narrow, two-story brick house, standing back in 
the yard. A wooden piazza extending along the side, opening from 
the second story, was his walking space. Upon this balcony the 
old veteran used to walk at night, formulating those powerful 
editorials for which this knight of the free lance was renowned. 

He changed the name of the paper from the Globe to the 
Union ; how much the name was a misnomer others must say. 

Mr. Ritchie was amiable, honorable and unsophisticated to a 
marked degree. His education and life had not prepared him 
with ability to cope with men of national breadth. 

He has been called the most genteel old fogy who ever wore 
nankeen pantaloons, white vest, blue coat, high shirt collars and 
straw hat. These were his vestments summer and winter. His 
instincts were pure and his relations to men honest. He was a 
conscientious believer in the extreme doctrine of state-rights. 
The estrangement brought about by this change of editors was 
broad, and rankled deep. To the student of political issues it 
gives a great field ; it will show to them " How great a matter 
a little fire kindleth." A change in the editorship of a polit- 
ical organ was the origin of a movement that brought about the 
greatest event in the political or economic history of the country. 



HOMES OF HISTORIC MEN. \ 83 

Almost upon the ashes of the house on G Street, where Mr, 
Ritchie used to quicken his facile pen, the editorial rooms and the 
publishing house of the Soldier's National Tribune are located. 

At one time Mr. Ritchie lived in the Slidell house on La Fayette 
Square, which was afterwards also occupied by a defender of the 
Union, Gideon Welles, when Secretary of the Navy. The student 
of political economy must come to the conclusion that 'there is a 
destiny that shapes our ends. 

******* 

Among the many historic homes in Washington, there is none 
within whose hospitable walls more distinguished people have re- 
sided than the mansion No. 165 1 Pennsylvania Avenue. It is sit- 
uated opposite the White House grounds, and has a familiar look 
to every observant citizen. 

It was built about the year 1810 by Joseph Lovell, then Sur- 
geon-General of the army. Dr. Lovell was born in Boston, De- 
cember 20, 1788, a century ago. He was appointed surgeon in 
the war of 1812. 

From these windows were witnessed the depredations of the 
British, the hurried flight of Dolly Madison, and the lighting of the 
torch that sent the lurid flames curling and mounting through 
beam and rafter, until a blackened ruin was all that was left of the 
nation's home. 

Dr. Lovell died October 17, 1836, and soon after his death the 
property was purchased by Francis Preston Blair, Sr. This house 
was his home during the period that he was editor of the Globe^ at 
one time a Democratic paper of great influence. 

With Jackson and Van Buren's administrations his influence 
was unbounded, and by many he was regarded as the power be- 
hind the throne, greater than the throne itself. 

When Van Buren was candidate of the Free Soil part)', for the 
Presidency, Mr, Blair supported him. In 1855 ^^ became a 
member of the Republican party, with which he continued to affil- 
iate until after the close of the war, when he drifted back to the 
party of which he had been so distinguished a member, and with 
which he had become so prominently indentitied in the early part 
of his life. 

He died at his country seat. Silver Spring, Montgomery County, 



lS4 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

Maryland, October i8, 1876, at the advanced age of eighty-five 
years. 

More than half a century ago this ancient knight and lady were 
often seen, mounted, riding along Pennsylvania Avenue toward 
their old home, in which their son, Montgomery Blair, was living. 

We have shown what a power Mr. Blair was in the land for two 
generations. He was always the firm friend and strong admirer 
of " Old Hickory," and nothing gave him greater pleasure than to 
stroll into La Fayette Square and gaze upon the equestrian statue 
of Jackson, which he pronounced the best likeness of the old hero 
extant, no matter what adverse criticism might be given. He was 
the father of Frank P. Blair, Jr., whose early youth was spent in 
this house. 

The Blair mansion was rented to the Hon. George Bancroft 
during the short period that he was Secretary of the Navy, from^ 
1845 to 1846. Mr. Bancroft is the only surviving member of Mr. 
Polk's Cabinet. The next prominent person to occupy this house 
was Hon. John Y. Mason, Secretary of the Navy, from 1846 to 
1849. Mr. Mason, prior to that time, had been a member of the 
Constitutional Convention of Virginia, from 183 1 to 1837, when 
he was appointed judge of the United States Court for Virginia. 
He was Secretary of the Navy under Presidents Tyler and Polk. 
He was appointed Minister to France by President Pierce, where 
he remained until his death in 1859. 

During the later portion of Taylor's administration, Hon. 
Thomas Ewing occupied this house, he having been appointed by 
President Taylor to a seat in his Cabinet as Secretary of the In- 
terior, General Thomas Ewing, who distinguished himself during 
the Civil War, upon the side of the Union, was his son. 

It was in this house, June i, 1850, that General W. T. Sher- 
man, at that time a lieutenant, was married to Miss Ellen Bayles 
Ewing, daughter of Tom Ewing, by Rev. James Rider, President 
of Georgetown College. 

After the death of Charles R. Sherman in 1S29, W. T. Sher- 
man, well known in those days as " Cump," was adopted by 
Thomas Ewing and by him appointed to a cadetship to West 
Point. 

When the Mexican war broke out, he was sent to California, to 



HOMES OF HISTORIC MEN. 1 8$ 

meet Kearney's expediiion crossing the plains. He was at that 
time first lieutenant in the Third Artillery. On his return he was 
married to Miss Ewing. There were present at the ceremony 
President Fillmore and his Cabinet, Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, 
and a host of other celebrities then residents of Washington. 

During President Fillmore's administration in 1850, he invited 
the gifted, silver-tongued Tom Corwin into his Cabinet, and while 
he held the position of Secretary of the Treasury, he, too, occupied 
this house, adding one more name to the illustrious list that have 
called it their home. 

Since 1853 this historic mansion has been occupied by the fam- 
ily of Montgomery Blair. Mr. Blair was a member of President 
Lincoln's Cabinet. The winter of 1869 will be long remembered 
for its brilliant receptions, for the elegance of fashion and social 
magnificence every-where exhibited. During the gay season 
Admiral and Mrs. Lee issued a thousand cards of invitation for 
a bridal party, the bride a daughter of Montgomery Blair. This 
party is said to have been in point of numbers and distinction of 
the guests, and the grand scale of all its appointments, one of the 
most magnificent given in the capital. 

One of the most distinguished guests of the evening was Mrs. 
Levi Woodbury, the daughter of Mrs. Montgomery Blair, one who 
had an abiding social intiuence in the old Jackson regime, in 
the days when the standard of statesmanship was high, when the 
old school polish and refinement existed. 

Montgomery Blair, though a member of President Lincoln's 
Cabinet, was one of the most prominent and able supporters of 
Mr. Tilden in his efforts to have his claim to the Presidency rec- 
ognized. In November, 1882, he received the nomination of the 
Democratic party of the sixth Congressional district of INLaryland 
to represent them in Congress, but was defeated. When Mr. 
Blair died he left a name unsullied. In his private life his bitter- 
est opponents will concur that his virtues entitled him to hold any 
position which the people in their wisdom might have called him 
to occupy. 

Among the many prominent citizens of Pennsylvania who have 
filled Cabinet positions during the history of the Government — 
and the list contains many notable names — none has surpassed 



1 86 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

that of the Hon. Richard Rush in power and dignity, and purity 
of private life. 

He was Secretary of the Treasury from 1825 to 1829, and dur- 
ing this time he built the house No. 1710 H Street, now occupied 
by the Admiral of the Navy. When first built it was a two-story 
structure with an attic, but it was afterwards carried up another 
story and many other improvements added, including a large ball- 
room built by the Hon. Hamilton Fish, who subsequently pur- 
chased the property. 

Mr. Rush came of good Revolutionary stock, his father being 
the Hon. Benjamin Rush of the Continental Congress. In the 
provincial conference of Pennsylvania he was chairman of the 
committee which reported that it had become expedient for Con- 
gress to declare independence. He was one of the signers of 
the Declaration of Independence. Richard Rush graduated at 
Princeton at the age of seventeen. In 1816 he was sent as 
Minister to England, where he remained eight years and while 
there negotiated several treaties. 

When he went to England the late Benjamin Ogle Tayloe, of 
Washington, accompanied him as Secretary of the Legation. 

While abroad Mr. Rush, through his high social and diplomatic 
position, was brought frequently into the presence of his fair 
countrywomen, the three Misses Caton, who for their wit, beauty 
and accomplishments, were called the "Three Graces." They 
were from Annapolis, Maryland ; one of them became the Duchess 
of Leeds, another the Marchioness of Wellesley, and the third 
Lady Stafford. They were the grand-daughters of Charles Carroll, 
of Carrollton, who was one of the signers of the Declaration of 
Independence, and was known as the last surviving signer. 

Mr. Rush's wife also came from Annapolis, Maryland. She was 
Miss Eliza Murray, a cousin of James D. Murray, paymaster of the 
United States army. It was very natural that there should be a 
cordial friendship existing between them and the Caton sisters. 

The following anecdote is told apropos of the administration of 
Richard Rush at the court of London. " At a small dinner many 
years afterwards, at the King's — then William IV. — a gentleman 
of the household was disposed to be a little pleasant with one of 
these accomplished sisters on account of her nationality, and at 



HOMES OF HISTORIC MEN. 1 8/ 

length said : ' Now, do pray tell us, lady, do you come from 
that part of America where they reckon or calculate?' 'She 
comes from neither,' said the king slowly, ' she comes from that 
part of America where they fascinate.' " 

In 1828 Mr. Rush was the candidate for Vice-President on the 
ticket with John Q. Adams, and received the same number of elec- 
toral votes. He negotiated a loan in Holland for the corporation 
of Washington, Georgetown and Alexandria. Jackson appointed 
him commissioner to obtain the Smithsonian legacy, then in the 
English court of Chancery. In due time he returned, bringing 
the whole amount. 

President Polk appointed him Minister to France, and in 1848 
he was the first of the foreign ministers at the French court to rec- 
ognize the new Republic in advance of instructions from his gov- 
ernment. At the close of President Polk's term he asked to be 
recalled, and spent the remainder of his life in comparative retire- 
ment. He had a large family of sons and daughters, and during 
their residence in Washington he entertained elegantly. 

Miss Eliza Rush married John Calvert, Esq., of Prince George 
County, Maryland, a lineal descendant of Lord Baltimore, and the 
uncle of the wife of R. F. Kearney, of Washington, D. C. 

The next prominent personage to reside in this mansion was the 
Hon. Hamilton Fish, then senator from New York. During the 
war he was one of the United States commissioners to visit 
soldiers confined in Confederate prisons. In 1869 he was ap- 
pointed Secretary of State in the Cabinet of General Grant, which 
position he creditably filled eight years. 

Other occupants of this mansion have been Sir Frederic Bruce, 
Lord Napier and Lord Lyons, representing Great Britain at Wash- 
ington. Lord Lyons, previous to coming here, had been an 
attache of the English Legation, at Athens and Dresden, respec- 
tively, secretary of the English Legation at Florence, and envoy at 
Tuscany. 

During his long residence here he gave many brilliant entertain- 
ments, especially those in honor of the birthday of his sovereign. 
He afterwards became the British embassador to France. 

The present occupant and owner is the gallant Admiral of the 
Navy, David D. Porter, who was born June 8, 1814, in Pennsyl- 



1 88 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

vania. His father, the gallant Porter of Essex fame, having 
left our service and accepted the position of Commander-in-chief in 
Mexico, obtained an appointment for his son in the Mexican navy, 
sent him to sea in the Guerre, a twenty-two gun brig, having a 
complement of one hundred and eighty-nine officers and men, and 
commanded by his nephew, an enterprising officer but twenty-one 
years of age, who, like his uncle, had been in the American service. 
The Guerre sailed from Vera Cruz April 17, 1827, and a few 
weeks thereafter fell in with a Spanish frigate, fully manned and 
carrying sixty-four guns. Finding it impossible to get away from 
the frigate. Captain Porter resolutely gave battle and maintained 
the unequal fight for nearly four hours, not striking his colors until 
the brig was filled with the dead and dying and her spars and sails 
were so torn to pieces as to make her utterly unmanageable. 

As soon as the Spaniards saw the Mexican flag come down, they 
put their helm up and ran down to the Guerre, delivering two 
heavy broadsides when within one hundred yards. During this 
cowardly firing, Captain Porter, one of the bravest men that ever 
trod a ship's deck, was cut in two by a cannon shot, and his re- 
mains, instead of being interred with military honors, according 
to the usage of war, were barbarously thrown overboard by the 
victors in plain view of the land. 

Two years after this rough experience, David D. Porter entered 
the American navy as a midshipman, and as a lieutenant, eighteen 
years later, we find him actively engaged in all our naval opera- 
tions on the coast of Mexico, and adding new luster to a name 
already regarded in the United States as a synonym of valor. 

When the war broke out. Porter, then a commander, was de- 
spatched in t\-\& Fawhatan to the relief of Fort Pickens, Florida, for 
whose beleaguered garrison the President felt great solicitude. 
This duty accomplished he went vigorously to work fitting out a 
mortar fleet for the reduction of the forts guarding the approaches 
to New Orleans by the lower Mississippi, to gain possession of 
which the Government considered of vital importance. 

After the fall of New Orleans, the mortar flotilla was actively 
engaged at Vicksburg, and in the fall of 1862 Porter was placed in 
command of all the naval forces on the western rivers at New 
Orleans, with the rank of acting rear-admiral. 



HOMES OF HISTORIC MEN: 1 89 

His ability as a Commander-in-chief was now conspicuously ex- 
hibited, not only in the battles which he fought, but also in the 
creation of a formidable fleet out of river steamboats, which he 
covered with such plaiing as they could bear. 

By his example to his officers and his men, he displayed a hero- 
ism which has never been surpassed, and wherever- there was 
water enough to float a gunboat, there the old flag was considered 
and respected. 

In 1864 Porter was transferred to the Atlantic coast to com- 
mand the naval forces destined to operate against the defences of 
Wilmington, North Carolina; and on January 15, 1865, the fall 
of Fort Fisher was hailed by the country as a glorious termination 
of his arduous war services. In i866 he was made vice-admiral 
and appointed superintendent of the Naval Academ}^ which insti- 
tution is still reaping the benefit of his able administration of four 
years. At the death of Farragut in 1870, he succeeded that illus- 
trious man as admiral of the navy. 

Admiral Porter married a daughter of Commodore D. T. Patter- 
son, who distinguished himself with Jackson at New Orleans in 
1815. In our early navy Commander Patterson ranked deserv- 
edly high among the gallant officers of his day. 

Thomas H. Patterson, rear-admiral of the United States navy, is 
a model officer and gentleman. He and Carlisle Patterson, the 
late superintendent of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, have proved 
themselves worthy sons of their illustrious sire. 

The former married the beautiful Miss Maria Wainbright, and 
the latter Miss Pearsons, the heiress of Brentwood manor, a beau- 
tiful country seat on the Brentwood road and Boundary street of 
the city, beautiful amid its tall ancestral trees. 

Admiral Porter has a large family. Two sons are officers in the 
service. Theoderic Porter is a lieutenant in the nav}', stationed at 
the Naval Academy, and Captain Porter is in the Marine Corps. 
Lieutenant Porter married Carrie Capron, daughter of the late 
Captain Capron, who was killed in Mexico, whose widow married 
Charles Vincent, long connected with the Treasury Department. 
Mr. Vincent's daughter Julia, by a previous marriage, became the 
wife of Lieutenant, now Rear-Admiral George B. Balch, U. S. N., 
retired. During Admiral Porter's long residence therein, the H 



1 90 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

Street house has been the scene of many brilliant entertainments, 
and the centre of distinguished hospitalities ; but of late, owing to 
the somewhat impaired health of himself and Mrs. Porter, they 
have not received their friends, except informally. 

In his ripe old age the admiral has written the history of the 
navy in which he and his have borne so conspicuous a part. He 
had previously written several valuable books. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE HOMES BEYOND THE POTOMAC — MOUNT VERNON, ABINGDON, 
ARLINGTON. 

The Pilgrimage to Mount Vernon — The Country's Shrine — A Sail down the 
Potomac — The tolling Bell — The Tomb of Washington — The Design of 
the Crypt at the Capitol — A memorable Contract — Mount Vernon before 
the Revolutionary War — Swords are Ploughshares and Spears are Prun- 
ing-Hooks — The Forestry of Mount Vernon — Remarkable Lessons in 
Trees — Who holds the Key — A peaceful Benediction — An architectural 
Commentary — The State Kitchen — Some glorified " Fraunces " and Uncle 
Harkness — A Retrospect — A Vision of Loveliness — Washington's " Birth- 
night " — Washington's last Minuet — An historical Invitation — Washing- 
ton's Answer — When he brought his Bride to Mount Vernon — Made Com- 
mander-in-chief — Count de Rochambeau visits Mount Vernon — The old 
Confederation ends — Washington made President — Eight Years of Ab- 
sence — His Locks blanched — Stricken in Years — Crowned with Honor — 
An unchanging Inheritance — Mount Vernon a National Heritage — Alex- 
andria and Christ Church — General Washington's Pew — A City sleeping — 
The Legend of the beautiful Stranger — A fascinating Story — The Home of 
the Alexanders — Abingdon — A fine Estate — Descended to the Hunters — 
In the Family three Centuries — Purchased by George Washington — Home 
of John Parke Custis — The Stewart Sisters, Nine— Years of Litigation — 
Abingdon again owned by the Alexanders — Andrew Jackson's Sunday 
Home — Alexander Hunter — Marshal of the District — General Washing- 
ton's Room — Willed by General Hunter to his Nephew — The Estate in 
Litigation — Abingdon in Sackcloth and Ashes — Arlington owned by John 
Parke Custis — His Life at Mount Vernon — Built Arlington in 1802 — Kept 
Bachelor's Hall — A commanding View — Parke Custis' Portrait— History 
of the first American Willow — " Arlington Sheep Shearing " — Washing- 
ton's High Tariff Bill— Arlington Spring— An unhappy Marriage — The last 
Word to Posterity— Nellie Custis— May Randolph Custis— Robert Lee — 
When Married — In 1861 these Occupants walked out of Arlington — Wash- 
ington Relics— The old Flag — The Headstones at Arlington — Liberty and 
Union. 

There are but few visitors to the capital who care to leave with- 
out making a pilgrimage to Mount Vernon, and it is eminently fit- 

191 



192 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON: 

ting that the homes " beyond the Potomac " that have become 
identified with the history of the country should find a place 
among the historic homes of Washington, 

There is no shrine in the land toward which so many pilgrims 
turn as to that of George Washington. There is not a pleasant 
morning of the year but crowds step on board the little steamer 
Corcoran for a sail down the beautiful Potomac. Word painting 
can convey but little idea of the beautiful scenery and give but 
glimpses of the banding hills, the broad amphitheatre of space, 
the delicate tints and depth of color, the gold and orange and 
purple, where earth and sky meet over the Virginia hills. 

As w-e look back upon Arlington Heights, and the beautiful 
curve of the dome of the Capitol against the snowy mass of cloud, 
and through the banks of mist, and the rising, tapering shaft that 
commemorates the name at whose shrine we do homage, the little 
steamer is hurrying us on over the seventeen miles of water way. 
The beautiful city gradually fades from sight and Arlington lies 
hidden from view. 

A little later on and the tolling bell in solemn accents tells us 
that we are passing the tomb of Washington. This mark of rever- 
ence was instituted seventy-five years ago, by Commodore Gordon, 
the commander of the English fleet, who, when passing Mount 
Vernon August 24, 1814, ordered the bell of his flag-ship, Sea- 
Horse^ to be tolled. 

"Slowly sailing, slowly sailing, hushed the music, mute the mirth, 
Men and maidens standing reverent on some broad akar's hearth. 

********* 
" Silently before Mount Vernon, silently our boat moves on, 
Hushed the iron heart's deep panting, past the tomb of Washington ; 
Truest, worthiest act of worship that degenerate earth now knows, 
Inmost soul here recognizing all the mighty debt she owes. 
Oh, my country! art thou paling — losing all the young day's glow? 
Cans't thou lose thy first love's glory, and thy hero's worth still know.' 
Patriot hearts, no doubt, still haunt you, threatening thoughts come crowding 

on, 
Sail with me down broad Potomac, past the tomb of Washington ; 
Feel the impress of his greatness stamped upon the nation's heart, 
See each manly brow uncovered, lovely lips in awe apart ; 
Fear not while this reverence lingers with its clear, warm, hollowing light; 
This must fade from brow and bosom, e're can come our country's night. " 

— \M7-s. R. Cary Laii^, in Literary IVorid, Feb. 17, 1S49. 



THE HOMES BEYOND THE POTOMAC. 1 93 

At this point of landing the river is two miles wide. Glimpses 
of the mansion can be seen through the green vistas on the bank a 
couple of hundred feet above the water. Passing up the easy as- 
cending road that winds over the brow of the hill, you reach the 
tomb, which through numerous reproductions has become familiar 
to every child in the land. 

Therein lie the mortal remains of George and Martha Washing- 
ton. To this vault the body of Washington was removed April 
19, 183 1, for the reason that Vandals had broken into the old 
tomb and removed what they supposed to be the skull of Washing- 
ton, but which proved to be that of one of the Blackburn family. 

In the winter of 1832, Congress for the second time made an 
effort to have the body of Washington removed to the crypt of 
the Capitol originally designed for its sepulchre. Adams, Clay, 
Webster and many others were anxious for its removal on the cen- 
tennial anniversary of his birth, February 22, 1832. 

It will be remembered that on the death of General Washington, 
those in national authority begged his remains for public interment 
at the seat of the National capital. They were granted by Mrs. 
Washington on condition that her own remains should be interred 
by the side of her husband in the national tomb. This memorable 
compact remains in force, and, in one sense, binding on the nation, 
as no living authority has power to annul it. 

On the strength of this contract. President Monroe ordered two 
crypts to be built in the basement of the centre of the Capitol for 
the reception of the remains of General and Mrs. Washington. 
There was at this time appointed a watchman, who was called 
the " keeper of the crypt," whose duty it was to sit by the small 
opening in the marble floor under the old dome and keep watch 
lest some evil might befall the sacred remains. Faithfully he did 
his sitting, and faithfully he drew his twenty-five hundred dollars 
salary through the years, until Abraham Lincoln's administration 
abolished the sinecure office. 

The desire to have the remains of this illustrious citizen removed 
failed, and now that Mount Vernon, through the work of patriotic 
women, has become the property of the nation, every American 
should rejoice that they rest beneath the forest trees and on the 
grassy slopes of their own loved Mount Vernon. 
13 



194 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

Previous to the Revolutionary war the establishment at Mount 
Vernon was upon a very limited scale. There were but four 
rooms on a floor ; the outbuildings were meager. After Washing- 
ton resigned his commission at Annapolis on the 23d of De- 
cember, 1783, he hastened to Mount Vernon, ready to turn his 
swords into ploughshares, and his spears into pruning-hooks, and 
learn war no more. 

He was his own architect and builder, and in the arrangement 
and embellishment of the grounds he attended to the minutest 
details. 

One of the ideas which possessed the mind of General Washing- 
ton has lately come to light through the careful study of the pres- 
ent superintendent, Harrison H. Dodge. He intended that an 
instructive lesson should be read in the variety of trees grown upon 
the grounds. Toward this result North, East, West and South con- 
tributed their quota. The Massachusetts elm spread its shelter- 
ing branches over the Southern magnolia ; the cypress, cedar, 
black walnut, mountain ash, beech, buckeye, coffee bean, with so 
many others, were traced, that the design is unmistakable. 

During the late war the negroes cut down these invaluable 
relics for fire-wood. In some few cases there is a vestige left to 
identify the variety of tree, and mark the general plan, as will be 
seen by the plat of the west lawn, laid out in the form of a shield ; 
and, carried a little beyond the lines, the outline of the " Old 
Liberty Bell " is reproduced in perfection. 

The forestry of Mount Vernon is one of the most interesting 
features of study associated with this historic spot. 

Ascending the hill to the right, and very near the approach to the 
tomb, stand two remarkable trees. The first is a lofty cypress, an 
evergreen from the North, which seems to have found congenial 
soil ; for its height indicates perfection ; its trunk seems to be made 
up of cords or muscles like the arm of the Roman gladiator. It is 
a wonderful exponent of Gustave Dore's idea of trees, which he 
endowed with souls; the mute language of this specimen is just as 
appealing as an expression on the human face. 

A few feet removed from this may be seen a black walnut, ill 
almost unto death. Its slender, feeble-looking body can be ac- 
counted for when glancing at one of the upper limbs. Upon this 



THE HOMES BEYOiYD THE POTOMAC. 195 

branch is an excresence of immense size in proportion to the tree 
on which it grows ; there can be no mistake that this is a most 
seriously afflicted tree, and it goes far to prove the brotherhood of 
universal matter. These both stand near the tomb, emblems 
of strength and weakness. 

When they were planted no man knoweth. Could the great 
man, having discovered their peculiarities, have placed them side 
by side } Such trees must have a history, but where is it written ? 
Who holds the key of the hieroglyphs .'' 

As we pass from room to room in this ancestral home, the gen- 
ial and kindly hospitality of the olden time, like a peaceful bene- 
diction falls upon us. The entire house is an architectural com- 
mentary on the rise and progress of the nation. It was a princely 
mansion in its day, no doubt, but the state dining-hall is the only 
room that can lay claim to any pretension toward elegance, and to- 
day it seems meager in its proportions. In this room there is an 
elaborately carved mantel-piece from Carrara, with Sienna marble 
columns. The exquisite workmanship is attributed to Canova. 
This alone is all that remains of the appointments of this banquet- 
hall, where so many illustrious men and famous women have 
broken bread. 

Through the curved colonnade that leads to the old state 
kitchen, with its immense fireplace and hanging crane, we can 
again see some glorified '* Fraunces " gliding back and forth to the 
immaculate chef, " Uncle Harkness," busy with culinary art for 
some great feast. Under his iron discipline, without spot or blem- 
ish each cover was handed over in its perfection to the exacting 
steward, who, in snow-white apron, silk shorts and stockings, knee- 
buckles and powdered hair, placed the dishes in turn upon the table. 

In retrospection we again materialize Hamilton, Madison, Jef- 
ferson, Marshall, La Fayette, Rochambeau, L'Enfant, Monroe, 
Morris, and hosts of generals and civilians who have made this 
place historic by their presence. 

We step out upon the open veranda and a vision of loveliness 
greets the eye : terraced lawns, forest trees, gentle slopes and the 
Potomac's broad expanse, flecked with dancing, drifting sails that 
bring back the fairest, tenderest picture, just such as greeted the 
young, fair bride of Mount Vernon in that long ago. 



196 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

Could the old clock in the hall, which once struck the hours in 
Washington's home, speak, how many tales it would tell of ancient 
grandeur, of courtly dames and gallant cavaliers, of Old Dominion 
hospitalities, of stirring Virginia reels and stately minuets ! 

Washington's " birthnight " was first celebrated by a ball given 
at Alexandria at the close of the Revolution. They soon became 
general in all the towns and cities. 

At a ball given in Fredericksburg in honor of the French and 
American officers, after the surrender of Yorktown in 1781, Wash- 
ington danced the minuet for the last time, in the graceful and 
elegant manner for which he was noted. 

The following letter from Washington was written about a 
month before his death, in reply to an invitation from a committee 
of gentlemen in Alexandria to attend the dancing assemblies 
there, and can be seen in the Alexandria Museum : 

"Mount Vernon, 12th of November, 1799. 
" Gentlemen : 

" Mrs. Washington and myself have been honored with your 
polite invitation to the assemblies of Alexandria this winter, and 
thank you for this mark of attention. But, alas ! our dancing days 
are no more. We wish, however, all those who have a relish for so 
agreeable and innocent an amusement, all the pleasure the season 
will afford them ; and so I am, gentlemen, 

"Your most obedient and obliged humble servant, 

"Geo. Washington." 

Could the old halls of Mount Vernon tell the story of the cen- 
tury since Washington crossed the threshold in 1753, to enter 
upon a life work, in which no man has been so honored, what a 
history it would tell ! 

His achievements in penetrating the wilderness amid difficulties 
and dangers, brought him into the favorable notice of the colonial 
authorities, who entrusted him in 1754 with the defence of the 
frontier of his native colony. 

When he again enjoyed the peaceful shades of Mount Vernon, 
his stay was of short duration. The fame of the young pro- 
vincial soldier had reached General Braddock's ears and he re- 
quested him to accompany him on his unfortunate expedition to 
Fort Duquesne. Here Washington reaped his first laurels. At 



THE HOMES BEYOND THE POTOMAC. 1 97 

the close of this war, which lasted seven years, the young provin- 
cial again returned to Mount Vernon to await events. 

It is well known where and how he met his wife. In 1759 he 
brings her, a fair bride, to Mount Vernon. The years glide by and 
peace pervades the fair domain. Amid the felicities of home life, 
the better council of family and friends, the peaceful pursuit of 
agriculture, the small cloud of colonial troubles appears upon the 
horizon, and Patrick Henry and Edmund Pendleton step upon the 
scene. 

Washington had been chosen to represent Virginia in the First 
Continental Congress, which assembled in Philadelphia on the 5th 
of September, 1774, and these gentlemen were to accompany him. 
He was called again to leave the fertile fields and fairy meads to 
enter the arena of public life. 

While serving in the First Congress, in the year 1775, his name 
was brought forward as Commander-in-chief of the army by John 
Adams, and he was duly appointed. He obeyed the call of his 
country, and for six more long years of privation and anxiety his 
days were spent on the tented field. 

In 1 78 1 the old halls of Mount Vernon re-echoed for a day the 
master's footfalls. He was accompanied by Count de Rochambeau 
and a brilliant suite en route for Yorktown. 

A happier scene was spread upon the canvas in 1783, The war 
was over ; the nation was free, the people independent. Wash- 
ington had resigned his commission, and the glorified and almost 
deified general had become lieutenant over the peaceful forces of 
agriculture at Mount Vernon. 

For four years there congregated in this hospitable home the 
great, the good, the worthy of the land. Among these chosen 
spirits was the gallant La Fayette, who hastened to Mount Ver- 
non on his return to this country in 1784, to pay his respects to 
the man whom he honored and loved above all men. 

In 1787 the old confederation is ended and a new government is 
formed. Washington leaves Mount Vernon again, and his signa- 
ture is the first on the immortal constitutional charter, conceived in 
the purity of republican freedom, planted on the basis of equal 
rights and equal laws. All honor to the men who formed this 
masterpiece of virtue ! 



198 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

Two years later, a special envoy in the person of Secretary 
Thomson, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, arrived at 
Mount Vernon, to officially announce to Washington that he had 
been chosen by the electors President of the United States. 

For eight long years silence reigned in the old home. In 1797, 
with blithesome step and joyous heart, the master of Mount Ver- 
non stepped over its portals. Time had blanched his locks and 
furrowed his brow. He had given his youth and his manhood to 
his country. He returned to his home, stricken in years, but 
crowned with honor above all men. 

When again called to leave Mount Vernon it was to pass into 
an unchanging inheritance, for which no man was better fitted. 

All praise to our countrywomen, who guard and protect this 
possession and have given it to us as a national heritage. 

-jr ir "iF -iP TT TT **f 

The entire area from Mount Vernon to Arlington might well be 
considered classic ground. Various reminiscences of Washington 
are connected with this locality. Old Alexandria and George 
Washington came into active life together, but the spot to which 
every Alexandrian will point with most pride, is old Christ Church. 
This church is not famous for its size and grandeur, but because 
it contains the pew where George Washington sat, Sunday after 
Sunday, a participant in the services. 

Could we picture to ourselves this venerable church as it ap- 
peared in 1776, we should find it almost hidden by primeval forest 
trees. The spacious galleries would be wanting ; the pews would 
be stiff, square, and high enough to prevent unprofitable gazing at 
each other. We should see Susanna Edwards, the sexton, usher- 
ing up the tile-paved aisles, the congregation to the seats allotted 
to each, "according to dignity." There would be Mrs. William 
Payne in her special seat upon the upper platform, by special con- 
sent, on account of deafness, and Colonel Washington, and the 
Alexanders, and the Custises, and many others in the antique dress 
of their day. We might have seen George Washington on Christ 
Church green, when he made the famous declaration of resistance 
to the odious Stamp Act, when it may be said a nation was con- 
ceived. 

Alexandria is a city that has fallen asleep, wrapped in a century 
of legend and tradition. 



THE HOMES BEYOND THE POTOMAC. 



199 



The legend most often on the lips of an Alexandrian is that of 
" The Beautiful Female Stranger." It is a fascinating and mys- 
terious story. It is said that between the long sermon and the 
short sermon, for over seventy years, the women folks of old 
Christ Church have talked about the "female stranger." 

Under the cedars and the oaks, in the old St. Paul cemetery, is 
her grave. The tombstone is a marble slab, laid horizontally 
upon six elaborately carved white marble pillars. Upon the 
tablet is this inscription : 



TO THE MEMORY 

of a 

FEMALE STRANGER, 

Whose mortal sufferings terminated 
on the 4th day of October, 1816, 
Aged 23 years and eight months. 



This stone is erected by her disconsolate husband, in whose arms 
she breathed out her last sigh, and who, under God, did his 
utmost to soothe the cold, dull ear of death. 



" How loved, how honored once, avails thee not, 
To whom related or by whom begot ; 
A heap of dust alone remains of thee, — 
'Tis all thou art, and all the proud shall be." 

One thing is certain : the woman who was buried there was 
unknown in Alexandria, as was the man who claimed to be her 
husband. This much is known. They came to Alexandria upon 
a foreign vessel, and took apartments at the leading hotel. She 
was a beautiful young girl, and he a handsome, distinguished- 
looking man. They brought with them one servant, and to all 
appearance, were people of high rank and great wealth. The old 



200 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

legends of Alexandria are filled with stories of her beauty, her 
jewels, her magnificent wardrobe. They denied themselves none 
of the luxuries of life, but absolutely refused to let their identity 
be known, or to make any friends, or acquaintances in the city. 
Even the valet was under instructions to reveal nothing. The 
ship they came in sailed away, and those on board knew no more 
about the enigmatical passengers than the native Alexandrians. 
The lady was above medium height, with a well-developed figure. 
Masses of blonde hair covered her head, her eyes were large and 
expressive, her mouth small and sweet, and her manner pleasant, 
yet dignified. It is said, as she drove about Alexandria, no one 
appealed to her in vain for charity. To all organizations she gave 
liberally, but attended no meetings and received no visitors. All 
the intercourse between the strangers and the citizens was such 
as came by chance. 

Five months after they arrived in the city, the young wife 
became ill with a low fever, and died. This is the generally ac- 
cepted opinion ; but it has been whispered that she died in child- 
birth. 

She was never left alone with the physician, the husband or 
valet being always present; and when she died, she lay in the 
arms of her husband with his lips pressed to hers. He alone, 
with his valet, was present at the burial. He selected the spot 
where she now lies, and stayed long enough to order and see com- 
pleted and placed, the tablet as it now stands, and left a sum of 
money to keep it in order for a term of years. He was to return, 
or send more money at the end of the time. He took ship and 
sailed away as mysteriously as he had come, and has never been 
heard of since. It has been rumored that he did, years after- 
wards, visit the grave of his wife. Another story that has been 
given credence is, that one evening in the long ago, a vessel, 
evidently a foreign man-of-war, anchored just below Alexandria. 
During the night the commander and two boats, with their crews, 
came off and went to the grave of the Female Stranger, exhumed 
the remains, took them to the ship, and at daybreak dropped 
down the river and disappeared. A great many believe that if 
the grave were opened an empty vault would be found. The 
casket, according to the legend, was put into a solidly constructed 



THE HOMES BEYOND THE POTOMAC. 201 

vault. Many novels have been woven out of this legend, and 
some of them add to the interest clinging to this story and its 
fascination. 

We can not longer dwell in old Alexandria with its legends and 
treasured memories. The trend of our thought leads us on to the 
old home of the Alexanders, the Custises and the Hunters — 
Abingdon, 

Between Washington and Alexandria, on the banks of the 
Potomac, there is one of the oldest and finest estates in Virginia. 
It was the family seat of the Alexanders and Hunters, and has 
been in the family for nearly three centuries. 

This family is descended from the powerful clan of MacDonald 
of Scotland ; from Alexander, son of John, Lord of the Isles, by 
Lady Margaret, his wife, who was the daughter of Robert II., 
King of Scotland. John IV., son of. the Earl of Sterling, emi- 
grated to Virginia in 1659 and settled in Stafford County, and 
purchased the Howson patent, which extended from Georgetown 
to Hunting Creek. When he died in 1677, his will bequeathed to 
his son John all the land from Four Mile Run, in Alexandria 
County, to the Potomac River, and to his second son, Philip, Four 
Mile Run to Hunting Creek ; so that Abingdon, the historic home 
referred to, became the home of John Alexander. The mansion 
is still standing and was most solidly constructed. The beams 
and rafters were of solid oak, two feet in diameter, and strong 
enough, as proven, to bear the weight of two centuries. 

Descendant after descendant inherited the estate until it, 
together with Arlington, fell into the hands of Girard Alexander. 

Girard sold Abingdon to General George Washington, who 
bought it for 'his step-son, John Parke Custis, who married Eleanor 
Calvert, of Mount Airy, Maryland. She was married at sixteen 
years of age, while Master Custis was a youth of nineteen. Here 
they lived several years, until four children were born to them. 
All were born in this home, except George Washington Parke 
Custis, who was born in Mount Airy. But the brightness that had 
illumined this home went out when the ravages of war marked its 
master for its victim. 

After the death of young Custis, his widow married Dr. Stewart, 
of Virginia, and in Abingdon the nine Stewart sisters were born. 



202 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

They were noted for their beauty and vivacious manners, and 
many a young Virginia planter _ has drunk a toast to these 
fair muses. 

But the homestead passed away from them. It had been paid 
for in Continental money by General Washington, and the heirs of 
Girard Alexander brought suit to recover the property. After 
many years of tedious litigation the courts set the sale aside, and 
Abingdon passed once more into the hands of the Alexanders, 
and Walter Alexander became the proprietor. He afterwards sold 
it to one of the Wises, who kept it but a short time, and re-sold it 
to General Alexander Hunter, a member of the original family. 
General Hunter was marshal of the District of Columbia for 
twenty years. He was a man of wealth and spent his means 
freely in beautifying the old place. 

He was a personal friend of President Andrew Jackson, and 
many a Saturday the head of the nation would slip away over the 
river to spend a quiet Sunday at Abingdon, An inflexible rule 
was made by General Hunter that office-seeking and politics in 
general should be rigidly tabooed during the President's stay. 
Everybody found a welcome to the place. Sturdy farmers 
would sit by the hour and chat familiarly with the old hero, there 
being no rules of etiquette laid down in this liberty hall. 

One chamber, on the northeast side of the house, was always 
called General Washington's room. It was the chamber-room 
he always occupied when he visited his step-son, Mr. Custis. 
General Hunter used to say his reason for not building a more 
pretentious house with his immense fortune, was, " that a house 
that was good enough to shelter Washington was good enough for 
him." 

General Hunter's town mansion was on the corner of C and 
Third Streets. This property has long been owned by the family 
of the Rev. Julius Grammer, of Baltimore, and leased for a 
boarding-house. 

General Hunter willed Abingdon to his nephew, Major 
Alexander Hunter, a man well known in literary work. He was 
to come into possession of the estate when he reached his major- 
ity. But before that time came the Civil war broke out and 
Abingdon, like Arlington, was sold for taxes, the prospective 



THE HOMES BEYOND THE POTOMAC. 203 

owner being in the Confederate army, Abingdon was bought by 
Mr. L. E. Crittenden, then Register of the Treasury. After the 
war Alexander Hunter, then twenty-one, sued for its recovery, and 
employed General James A. Garfield as his lawyer. The case 
was won in the Supreme Court and General Garfield took as his 
fee forty acres of Abingdon ; and when he became a resident of 
the White House he was making plans to build upon his land and 
establish a handsome country home. His untimely death 
brought all these plans to a close, and Abingdon to-day sits in sack- 
cloth and ashes. 

******* 

Arlington did not share the fate of Abingdon, but remained in 
the hands of the Custis family, John W. Parke Custis, when a 
lad, was present at the inauguration of his foster father as 
President of the United States, and saw the oath administered by 
Chancellor Livingston, upon the balcony of Federal Hall in New 
York, 1789. 

He afterwards heard this pledge of fidelity to the Constitution 
from the lips of every President, every four years, down to Pres- 
ident Pierce. After his father died, his home was with his sister, 
Nellie Custis, at Mount Vernon, This continued through child- 
hood and youth, and until the death of his grandmother and the 
breaking up of the home in 1802, when he commenced the erec- 
tion of the mansion at Arlington. 

He lived here, keeping bachelor's hall until, at the age of 
twenty-three, he married Mary Lee Fitzhugh, whose mother was 
a Randolph. 

The mansion occupies a commanding view upon the brow of an 
elevation more than three hundred feet above tide-water, and 
about a half mile from the shore of the Potomac. 

The building is of brick and presents a front of one hundred 
and forty feet. The portico, with its massive Doric columns, is 
sixty feet front and twenty-five deep, and was fashioned after the 
famous temple of Theseus at Athens. 

From the portico a beautiful panorama is exhibited ; first the 
Potomac, spotted with sailboats and ocean ships slowly sweep- 
ing down the stream, and, here and there, dotted with oarsmen 
from one or all of the several clubs in the city ; beyond, the city, 



204 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON: 

beautiful with its Capitol, its monuments, ils public buildings, 
and the unfolding forests and undulating hills that surround it. 

The old mansion is surrounded by a park dotted with groves of 
chestnuts, oak and evergreens, and above them all rise patriarchal 
trees, bearing many centennial honors. 

George W. Parke Custis is well remembered by many now liv- 
ing. His portrait, in the Corcoran Art Gallery, shows a florid 
face, high curling lip, somewhat receding forehead, penetrating 
blue eye — a face that hints the man of the world, genial, gentle, 
hospitable. He was a brilliant orator, and in Arlington house 
are frescoes of his own painting. He thought he was an artist, 
and made an honorable effort to paint battle scenes representing 
the achievements of Washington ; but all men do not possess the 
ten talents. 

At the north end of the mansion is a beautiful weeping willow 
that carries in its graceful branches quite a history. 

In 1775 an English officer came to this country with the inten- 
tion of making it his home, never doubting but that this unruly 
daughter, America, would be easily taught a lesson of obedience 
to the King. With him he brought a small twig of willow, care- 
fully preserved in an oil-silk covering. A few months only did it 
take to change the officer's mind, and, before returning to England, 
he presented this twig, which he had brought from Pope's villa at 
Twickenham, England, to John P. Custis, then Washington's aide 
at Cambridge, who planted it at Arlington. 

Pope's willow came from the East and was the parent of all 
willows of that species in England. The willow at Arlington be- 
came the parent of all other trees of the kind in America, and 
even furnished shoots many years after for English gardens where 
the tree had become extinct. 

There is a noble specimen of this tree on the corner of Twenty- 
second Street and Third Avenue, New York. It was a twig taken 
from the parent tree at Arlington by General Gates, and planted 
there by him when that portion of Manhattan Island was his Rose 
Hill farm. 

In 1803 Mr. Custis inaugurated an annual convention for the 
promotion of agriculture and domestic manufactures, known 
throughout the country by the title of "Arlington Sheep-Shear- 



THE HOMES BEYOND THE POTOMAC. 20$ 

ing-." Colonel David Humphries, American minister to Madrid, 
had introduced into this country the fine-wooled merino sheep. 
These gatherings were at Arlington Spring, a large fountain of 
living waters that flows from beneath the shade of a venerable 
oak not far from the banks of the Potomac. There for years the 
annual sheep-shearing took place on April 20th. Many hundreds 
would assemble to witness the ceremonies ; toasts were drank, 
speeches were made and prizes given by Mr. Custis for the best 
specimen of sheep or wool and domestic cloth. And here first 
began the prize offerings in this country that are yearly witnessed 
at the state fairs. Under the "tent o'f Washington," which is now 
preserved in the National Museum, many of the noblest men of 
the land have assembled at these festivals. In one of the 
speeches by Mr. Custis in this tent, he made this prophetic state- 
ment : "America shall be great and free, and minister to her own 
wants by the employment of her own resources. The citizen of 
my country will proudly appear when clothed in the product of 
his native soil." 

It must be remembered that at this time Washington's signa- 
ture to a High Tariff bill was of so recent a date that not a yard of 
broadcloth was manufactured in this country. 

Arlington Spring was for many years a great resort for picnic 
parties from Washington, Georgetown and Alexandria. In the 
long ago a military party, accompanied by their ladies, went over 
from Washington to the spring, for a day's outing. Mr. Custis 
sent his favorite servant, Charles, to wait upon the company at 
table. The salver used was one of a tea-service made in New 
York in 1779, of old family plate. When serving the ice-cream 
the waiter said, " Ladies, this salver once belonged to George 
Washington and from it all the great ladies and gentlemen of the 
Revolution took wine." The ladies, as if actuated by one impulse, 
arose, and each in turn kissed the cold rim of the salver before 
touching the cream. 

The Hon. John Custis, one of the King's council in Virginia, 
married a daughter of Colonel Daniel Parke. Colonel Custis, 
with his great wealth and foreign education, was considered no 
despicable suitor, but he was forewarned that his intended bride 
had a will and a temper of her own, and could well hold her part in 



206 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

a war of words. But before marriage, he thought "to possess her 
would be heaven enough for him." The marriage seems to have 
been a most unhappy one, and, fortunately, after the birth of two 
children, was brought to a close by her death at Arlington, on the 
eastern shore. The husband lived for many years after, and as 
he could not get even with her in life he commissioned his monu- 
ment to do him service and give the last word to the ear of pos- 
terity. 

By a provision of his will, his son and heir, Daniel Parke Custis, 
the first husband of Martha Dandridge, afterwards Martha Wash- 
ington, was instructed, under penalty of disinheritance, to have a 
monument erected at a cost of five hundred pounds, with the fol- 
lowing inscription : 

*' Under this marble tomb lies the body 
of the Hon. John Custis, Esq., 
of the city of Williamsburg 
and parish of Burton, 
Formerly of Hungars parish on the 
Eastern Shore 

of Virginia, and county of Northampton: 
Aged 71 years, and yet lived but seven years, 
which was the space of time he kept 
A bachelor's home at Arlington 
on the Eastern shore of Virginia." 

On the opposite side is the following : 

" This inscription put upon his tomb was by 
his own positive orders." 

This tomb is still in existence. 

It was John Custis who gave the name of Arlington to these 
estates. 

Beautiful Nellie Custis, married Washington's favorite nephew, 
Lawrence Lewis. She was a young lady of extensive information, 
brilliant wit and boundless generosity. She died in Clarke 
County, Virginia, in 1852, at the age of seventy-four. 

May Randolph Custis, the only child of John W. Parke Custis 
who survived the period of infancy, and Robert Lee, when chil- 
dren played together under the forest shade and over the lawns 



THE HOMES BEYOND THE POTOMAC. 20/ 

of beautiful Arlington. Robert was the son of Governor Henry 
Lee, the friend of Washington, and the first to utter the immortal 
lines : " First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his 
countrymen." In 1832 Robert Lee and May Custis were 
married. At the death of General Custis, Arlington became the 
property of Mrs. Lee. In 1861 the occupants walked out of it. 
The Washington relics, which they left behind in the thought that 
the war would soon blow over, were all confiscated, and are now in 
the National Museum. 

To-day the old mansion returns but echoes of precious mem- 
ories; barren are its walls, and forsaken its portals, but the spirit 
of Washington still hovers over the place, and from the old flag 
floats the pure gospel of union and liberty. 

When in the softer air of bright May mornings, soldiers' 
orphans lay their flowers on ten thousand soldiers' graves, it not 
only tells how dear to the nation is the dust of these brave men, 
but shows a deeper reverence for the sacrifice made that the 
nation might live and that Washington did not live in vain. 

The eye of the great chieftain is resting upon our beloved coun- 
try, and every headstone in Arlington tells him that in the hour 
of danger, Americans will venerate and maintain the laws and 
give their lives for the liberty and union of their country, and the 
great domain beyond the Potomac he sees redeemed. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

braddock's rock, observatory hill, and ST. Ann's infant 

ASYLUM. 

General Braddock — English Regulars — The Old Braddock House — An His- 
torical Council — Richard Henry Lee — Braddock's Contempt for Provin- 
cials — Forward, March — Underground Causeway — Braddock's Rock — The 
Home of John Lucas — A " Squatter's " Lot — Antique Furniture — A 
Swiss Clock— An old Ducking-Gun — House built by Charles W. 
Goldsborough — Observatory Hill — Indian Burying-Ground — John Pollock 
— "Round Tops " — Traditions — Graveyard Hill — Windmill Hill — " Camp 
Hill" — An elevated Causeway — Cedar Grove — Lorenzo Dow — Character- 
istic Anecdote — St. Ann's Infant Asylum — Home of General Charles 
Gratiot — Miss Chouteau — Count Charles de Montholon — The Residence 
of Henry Stephen Fox — General John Mason. 

Early in 1755 General Braddock landed in Alexandria with 
two thousand English Regulars, and, on the fourteenth of that 
month, met the Governors of the Colonies in what is known, 
to-day, as the old Braddock House. The room is now exhibited 
to visitors where this council was held, and where the decision 
was made that General Braddock was to lead the main army 
against Fort Duquesne. 

It was during Braddock's stay here that Richard Henry Lee (a 
young man twenty-three years old) raised a company of volunteers 
in Westmoreland, was chosen captain and marched to Alexandria 
to offer his services to General Braddock, The general, how- 
ever, declined the offer, with an ill-concealed expression of con- 
tempt for "provincials." Captain Lee, with his men, marched 
home again. 

The battle of Fort Duquesne had not then been fought, and 
Lieutenant Washington had not then been called upon to cover 
the retreat of the English Regulars with the Virginian "provin- 
cials'* — that was a little later on. 

208 



BRADDOCK'S ROCK. 



2QlC^ 



In the latter part of April the British general was ready for the 
forward march, Washington was one of his aids-de-camp. 

At this time the Potomac River ran very near the old Braddock 
house ; so near that an underground causeway had been cut from 
the cellar under the hotel to the river. The horses for this ex- 
pedition had been secretly hidden away in this cellar — the stalls 
can be seen there to-day. From this hiding-place they were 
taken through the causeway and placed upon barges. The troops 
also embarked. 

These barges sailed up the Potomac until they came nearly 
opposite to what is now the foot of Twenty-fifth Street. Between 
Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Streets stands a great rock, or 
boulder, at that time reaching out into water twelve or fourteen 
feet deep. It is known as Braddock's Rock, or Big Rock, and 
stands out like a great square buttress. The barges touched at 
this rock and upon it the troops were landed. 

The filling up of the Potomac flats has taken the river a long 
distance from this historic old rock; but there it is, a monument 
to the changes a hundred and fifty years have wrought. 

The army crossed over the western end of the "first ward," 
and followed a mere trail out to where Nineteenth Street strikes 
the boundary. 

To-day, after you have passed G Street, on Twenty-fifth, over 
the rough, undulating ground, you find little more than the trail 
over which Braddock and his army passed. 

This was more than half a century before a steamship ploughed 
the waters of the Potomac ; and three quarters of a century before 
relays of horses drew the cars over the Baltimore and Ohio 
railroad, from Washington to Baltimore and its western branch. 

General Braddock's march, after he left the " stepping stone " 
of the Potomac, was a vi^eary one over mountains, fording rivers, 
through bogs and mire ; Washington even gave up his horses in 
his anxiety to help on the baggage trains. 

How little did Washington dream that the future would bring 
him back to the spot where Braddock landed, or that he would 
there establish the nation's capital bearing his name ! 

A little to the east of the rock above mentioned, is the humble 
home of John Lucas, whose father, Ignatius Lucas, introduced the 
14 



2IO HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

immense pivoted ducking-gun upon the Potomac, which was 
imported from England. 

One pleasant autumnal morning we strolled over this historic 
ground and found the pleasant-faced, intelligent wife of the pres- 
ent owner ready to tell us all she knew of the early history of the 
place. 

The house was at first built on a "squatter's lot." This came 
exactly in the middle of a street. The present lot was purchased 
from the commissioners and the house was moved to it. There 
it stands to-day. 

Among numerous pieces of antique furniture that had been 
brought from England, we noted claw-feet tables, sideboards, 
antique mirrors and a Swiss clock. The latter, three feet wide 
and massive in build, has barely room to stand beneath the 
ceiling, and has a mechanical construction by which eight tunes 
are played, and which brings figures with trombone and fife to the 
front. All these are reminders of days gone by, and here they 
still remain, each a golden link in the chain of memory that unites 
the past and the present. Though the heart of many an antiqua- 
rian of to-day would be gladdened by their possession, the most 
fabulous price offered for them has no value in comparison with 
the associations connected with them. 

Upon a little side veranda stands the veritable " ducking-gun," 
with the old flint lock. This gun is fully twelve feet long. The 
sweet-faced woman within told us that her mother said she had 
known Mr. Lucas often to take that gun and a skiff, and before 
breakfast bring in a skifif full of ducks ; " but," she added mourn- 
fully, "the noise of city and river improvements is hard on ducks." 

In the rear of this old place and overlooking it, is the house 
originally built by the late Charles W. Goldsborough, formerly 
chief clerk of the Navy department, and father of the late Rear- 
Admiral Louis M. Goldsborough, who married a daughter of the 
celebrated William M. Wirt. The house referred to, stood upon 
a plateau, now Observatory Hill. In the days when it was built 
it was beautifully located, and was elegantly finished and fur- 
nished. The place many years ago passed into the hands of 
Mr. Boyle, who emigrated from Ireland. It still belongs to his 
heirs. 



BRADDOCK'S ROCK. 2 1 1 

Ascending in an easterly direction from the Goldsborough 
house, you reach the top of Observatory Hill, From the war of 
1812 this hill was known as "Camp Hill." Upon the level of the 
summit there was a very old cemetery, originally an Indian 
burying-ground. An old resident told us that when a child, he 
was fond of culling wild flowers on the brow of this hill, and often 
with other children, would play hide-and-seek in the grassy hol- 
lows of the sunken graves. 

Rough, moss-covered boulders marked the heads of the graves, 
and a few free-stone slabs were scattered about. " Their names, 
their years spelled by the unlettered muse, the place of fame and 
eulogy supply." 

There was one complete stone of more recent date, and, per- 
haps, the grave of the last person buried there. It was there in 
1817, and inscribed to John Pollock, an Englishman. He built 
the two brick houses known as the "Round Tops," square, two 
stories high, with pyramidal roofs close together, where now 
stands a blacksmith's shop, on the northwest side of Washington 
Circle. 

These were constructed for the porter's lodge of an intended 
palace, that was to have been built on Twenty-fourth Street, be- 
tween Pennsylvania Avenue and L Street, on the spot where 
Capt. J. Goldsborough Bruff now resides. The grounds were to 
occupy the whole square. Mr. Pollock had predicated all his 
schemes upon obtaining an immense fortune from England, which 
never came. He sickened and died, and his property was sold for 
his debts. When the foundation for the observatory was laid his 
bones were scattered to the four winds of heaven. 

As Observatory Hill has undergone many changes in title, it 
may be interesting to the reader to note some of the many 
legends that gave rise to its different names. Tradition says that 
on the top of this hill stood the royal wigwam of the Indian chief, 
who called the braves together in council, and here they smoked 
the peace-breathing calumet. Here was the grand council-house 
and cemetery ; hence the name of Grave- Yard Hill. 

Dr. Bruff, the first practitioner of dentistry in the Federal me- 
tropolis, in the year 1810, built upon the southwest side, near the 
river, a lofty wooden tower, upon the top of which he placed a 



212 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON: 

windmill, which he had invented and patented, calling it " hori- 
zontal windmill." Thus the hill adjoining was known as " Wind- 
mill Hill " until the year 1814, when the District militia had a 
practice and drill camp there, under the command of Col. 
Thomas L. McKenny, which changed the name to "Camp Hill." 
This continued to be its name until it was christened Observa- 
tory Hill. 

From about Twenty-second Street, on the south side of the ave- 
nue, there was an elevated causeway, extending westward and 
around to the M Street bridge. Pennsylvania Avenue, then a 
mere road, and impassable for pedestrians in wet weather, came 
down to the roadway. The ground began to rise from about 
Twenty-third Street, and gradually rose to a considerable hill 
above, where architect Mullet's residence now stands, and in- 
clined westerly to Rock Creek. 

It was cut down sufficiently, where Twenty-sixth Street now runs, 
for a roadway along the clifif to the bridge. Midway between the 
Mullet estate and the turn of the road westerly, there was a de- 
pression, which was covered by a cedar grove and large and aged 
locust trees. This was the resort of the itinerant preachers, partic- 
ularly the celebrated and eccentric Lorenzo Dow. The following 
anecdote of that pious man can be traced to Captain Brufif. 

On one occasion, Lorenzo Dow found that among his auditors 
were some who came for any and every other purpose except wor- 
ship. Being continually annoyed by these people coming in and 
going out, preparatory to his discourse, he thus addressed them : 

"My friends and hearers! on occasions like the present I have 
always found three classes of people assembled. The first are the 
truly pious, the second those who seek to become so, the third de- 
praved vagabonds who prefer damnation to salvation. I earnestly 
request all of this last class who may be here now to withdraw be- 
fore I commence the exercises." 

It is needless to say no one left, and the parson, for once, at 
least, had an attentive and silent audience. 

On the southwest corner of Twenty-fourth and K Streets 
stands a mansion, that, previous to its present occupancy, was 
noted for the elegant refinement and hospitality that characterized 



BRADDOCK'S ROCK. 2 1 3 

the distinguished personages that occupied it. Gen. Charles 
Gratiot, chief of the corps of engineers, United States army, 
while holding that position, resided here. This was prior to 
1838. General Gratiot's name was, for a time, under a cloud, as 
he had been dismissed from the service by the President, Martin 
Van Buren, for alleged misdemeanors in office. He petitioned 
Congress for a hearing and trial by court-martial. It was re- 
ferred to the Judiciary committee; and, unjustly, the case was 
never reopened. For many years he held a clerkship in the 
Land Office. He returned to St. Louis in 1855, and died soon 
after in destitute circumstances. 

Mr. Gratiot married a Miss Chouteau of St, Louis, the daughter 
of a distinguished French family. 

His daughter married Count Charles de Montholon, an attache 
of the French Legation in 1836, who returned here in 1856 as 
minister from France, He was the son of Count de Montholon, 
who was a distinguished French officer attached to the personal 
staff of Napoleon, and acted as his aide-de-camp during the " Hun- 
dred Days," He followed Napoleon into exile at St, Helena, and 
at the Emperor's death was appointed one of his executors. He 
was also a warm adherent of the Prince Napoleon, afterwards 
Napoleon III. He was imprisoned with him at Ham ; but was 
afterwards pardoned, became a member of the Legislative Assem- 
bly and died in 1853. 

This house, in 1834, was rented to Hon. Henry Stephen Fox, 
minister from Great Britain. During his occupancy of the house 
it was the scene of many brilliant entertainments. Just previous 
to the war it was occupied by Gen. John Mason, a brother of 
Senator Mason, of Mason and Slidell fame. General Mason mar- 
ried Miss Macomb, a daughter of Gen. Alexander Macomb, the 
former Commander of the United States army. The building has 
been enlarged and remodelled until it presents very little of its 
former appearance. 



CHAPTER XX. 

THE DIPLOMATIC CORPS AND HOMES OF THE FOREIGN LEGATIONS. 

The Personnel — Ambassadors — Ministers Plenipotentiary and Envoys Extra- 
ordinary — Customs of Nations — Precedence at Washington — The Dean of 
the Diplomatic Corps — Questions of Diplomacy — The Republic of 
Hayti — Mr. Stephen Preston — Early Recognition of the American 
Colonies — France an Ally — The French Minister's Ball in Honor of 
Washington's Inauguration — Minister Genet — Jacobin Clubs — Bust of 
Louis XVI. gives Genet great Concern — His Recall — Married Governor 
Clinton's Daughter — Brother of Madame Campan — A Social Embroglio — 
An Irrepressible Conflict — Anthony Merry — Tom Moore took up the 
Quarrel — Few Recalls of Diplomats — The Home of the British Legation 
— Sir Edward Thornton — Where Minister Vaughan Lived — Minister Fox 
— One distinguishing Feature — Minister Pakenham — Royal Entertainer — 
Sir Philip Crampton — Arrival of Lord Elgin — Lawrence Oliphant's Diary 
— Lively Reading — A Diplomatic Tramp — Devoted Apostles — A Problem 
for Politicians to figure out — Lord Napier — Lord Lyons — Intimate 
Friend of William H. Seward — Sir Frederic Bruce — Sir Frederic and 
Charles Sumner — Sir Edward Thornton lives in the new Home — Followed 
by Lionel Sackville-West — The Minister's Family — Supplemented by Sir 
Julian Pauncefote — A Peer among Experts — Lady Pauncefote — The Chi- 
nese Minister — Stewart Castle — No Ladies attached to the Legation — The 
Czar of Russia's Representative — " Boss" Shepherd's House — Mr. Charles 
de Struve — Madame de Struve — Brilliant Receptions — Baron Roman 
Rosen — Consul-General — Baroness Rosen — Mr. Alexander McGregor — 
— The German Legation's Home — Extent of the German Empire — The 
Japanese Legation — The present Minister — A Charming Home — The 
Mexican Legation's Home — Sefior Matias Romero — An able Representa- 
tive — His Distinguished Service — The close Friend of General Grant — 
Madame Romero — A charming Assistant — The Coreans — Fly-Screen Hats 
— Official Residence — Corean Women — Corean Customs — Mr. Allen Sec- 
retary — An able Interpreter. 

The personnel of the Diplomatic Corps consists of envoys ex- 
traordinary and ministers plenipotentiary, ministers resident, 

214 



THE DIPLOMATIC CORPS. 21 5 

charges d'affaires, first secretaries, general secretaries, counsellors, 
chancellors, military attaches, naval attaches, diplomatic attaches, 
translators and interpreters of Legations. 

Ambassador is a term applied to the highest class of diplomatic 
representatives. This title, with its international significance, has 
not been given to a diplomatic minister of the United States to a 
foreign court. That of envoy accredited to the President being 
the highest, it follows, therefore, that a minister from such a court 
at Washington is of less rank. 

In an official sense it designates only one who is accredited by 
one potentate to another, and who represents the sovereign him- 
self, while ministers and envoys represent only the state and not 
the person of the highest magnate. The Queen of England, for 
instance, sends ambassadors to sovereigns and only ministers 
plenipotentiary to the United States. The American minister 
plenipotentiary and envoy extraordinary to European courts is 
outranked by ambassadors representing the pettiest kingdom. 
Ambassadors extraordinary are sent on special missions, and 
occupy more exalted positions than ambassadors resident. It is 
the custom of nations to appoint and exchange diplomatic agents 
of equal grade. 

The date of the diplomat's credentials regulates the order of 
individual precedence at Washington. The senior, under these reg- 
ulations, is known as the dean, or doyen of the Diplomatic Corps. 
Upon all official or ceremonial occasions the dean is the leader of 
the brilliant array and presents his colleagues. 

It is customary for the President to entertain the chief members 
and ladies of the corps at a reception and at a state dinner, once 
during the season. This is in recognition of the sovereigns they 
represent, and not to the ministers personally. 

All questions of diplomacy must first go to the Secretary of 
State. Count Moustier, the French minister, put forward the 
claim of personal intercourse with the President, but Washington 
was inexorable, and all correspondence was conducted through 
the usual channel, the chief of Foreign Affairs. 

The small republic of Hayti is represented by Mr. Stephen 
Preston, who was sent in 1870 as minister resident at Washington. 
Being the oldest member, he is the dean of the corps. 



2 1 6 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHING TON. 

Minister Preston was born at Porte-au-Prince. Madame 
Preston was Mademoiselle Rose Alberga, of Kingston, Jamaica. 
They have several sons and daughters, who have been educated in 
America. They are a family distinguished for their courtly man- 
ners and fine culture. The minister himself is a man of very impos- 
ing presence and has many friends and admirers in Washington. 

Of the thirty greater or less powers represented, we can give 
sketches of but few of the most prominent. 

In the early days of the Republic the foreign diplomats exerted 
a wonderful influence in shaping public affairs. It was of much 
more importance that our foreign policy be looked after than the 
domestic. Within three months after the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence was promulgated, negotiations commenced for recogni- 
tion of the American colonies. France being an ally, there was 
appointed a diplomatic agent before the close of the war. With 
the establishment of the government in 1789, just a century ago, 
the Marquis de Moustier, French minister, gave a grand ball in 
honor of President Washington's inauguration. When Martha 
Washington arrived at the capital, then New York, the French, 
Spanish, and Dutch ministers were guests at the state dinner. 

During the French revolution, when the old regime was rele- 
gated to the past, Genet was sent here as minister. He arrived in 
Charleston in April, 1793. He had a triumphant reception in Phil- 
adelphia, May 20th. No sooner had he arrived than he began the 
formation of clubs in imitation of the Jacobin clubs of Paris. The 
bust of Louis XVI., in the vestibule of the President's house, 
gave him great concern ; and because America did not embark in 
the cause of France against England, in contradiction to Washing- 
ton's neutral proclamation, he bitterly denounced the American 
government for want of sympathy toward the French republic. 
In consequence of many imprudent things which he did, Washing- 
ton demanded and obtained his recall. Genet did not return to 
France, but settled in the state of New York, became an American 
citizen and married Cornelia Tappan Clinton, daughter of Gov- 
ernor Clinton, of New York. He was a brother of the celebrated 
Madame Campan, who was in the service of Marie Antoinette, 
under whose care Eliza Monroe, daughter of President Monroe, 
who was then minister to France, was educated. 



THE DIPLOMATIC CORPS. 21/ 

When Mr. Monroe was President, an issue arose between him 
and the P'rench minister, regarding an invitation given by M. Hyde 
de Neuville to his Excellency to attend a grand fete in honor of 
the evacuation of France by the allied troops. It became a sub- 
ject of diplomatic negotiation. The President and Mrs. Monroe 
declined the invitation, not wishing to do anything in contradic- 
tion of former rule of precedence. No President in the past had 
visited the house of a foreign minister. The President, through 
Secretary Adams, informed the minister that he would request his 
daughter, Mrs. Hay, to be present. This was the beginning of 
a social war. The diplomatic ladies had not first called on Mrs. 
Hay, she not being a member of the President's household ; there- 
fore she sent word to the minister that she would be present as the 
daughter of James Monroe and not as the daughter of the Presi- 
dent of the United States, which left the position of the ladies the 
same as before the ball. 

The terms were accepted, but social relations ended between 
Mrs. Hay and the ladies of the Diplomatic Corps. When President 
Monroe's youngest daughter was married to Samuel Lawrence, 
Governor of New York — which was the first wedding in the White 
House — the foreign ministers were uncertain what etiquette 
exacted of them. The Russian minister, Politca, called on Mrs. 
Adams for instructions. She approached Mrs. Hay for her views. 
She, although a daughter of the President, yet not a member of 
Executive family, assumed the responsibility of dictating the eti- 
quette of the administration. As she did not visit the houses of 
foreign ministers, she decided that her sister could not receive 
visits which she, Mrs. Hay, could not reciprocate. Thus one 
woman seemed powerful enough to wage a war that was as com- 
plete in cutting off all intercourse with the Diplomatic Corps as an 
embargo is in closing ports in time of rebellion. 

Thomas Jefferson, when President, was quite successful in 
bringing on an irrepressible conflict with the English minister, 
Mr. Anthony Merry. At a state dinner the President was con- 
versing with Mrs. Madison, wife of the Secretary of State, who 
was presiding lady, as she often was in the absence of Mrs. Ran- 
dolph. He escorted her to the dining-room in place of Mrs. 
Merry, who was the most distinguished invited guest. The minis- 



2l8 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

ter felt deepl}^ insulted and at once sent his grievance to his gov- 
ernment. Secretary Madison communicated with our minister at 
the court of St. James, placing the facts at his disposal. Minister 
Monroe was delighted ; for only a short time before an under-sec- 
retary of the English government had been assigned the prece- 
dence over Mrs. Monroe. A war between the two nations was 
averted by a word in time ; but Mrs. Merry never again passed the 
portals of the White House, and the minister only when business 
called him. And Tom Moore, who was in Washington, took up 
the quarrel and cried, " me too," and went off and wrote poetry 
about America. But the wheels of the government moved just the 
same ; the sun rose and set ; there was seed-time and harvest, and 
even the diplomatic service has gone along without serious inter- 
ruption all these years. 

The members of the different Legations contribute largely to 
the social enjoyment of Washington, and many of the most "brill- 
iant entertainments ever given have been by the Diplomatic Corps. 
Through all the years that make up the past century there have 
been very few interruptions to this social good feeling ; and very 
few occasions have been given to merit a demand for a recall of a 
diplomatic representative. 

The first was minister Genet, of France, in 1793, for reasons 
already given. During President Jefferson's second term a differ- 
ence arose between Spain and the United States,, on the boundary 
question. Marquis d' Yrujo, minister resident of Spain, was ac- 
cused of bribing a Federal newspaper to support Spanish interests. 
This brought forth the bill of John Quincy Adams in the Senate, 
"To protect the abuse of privileges of foreign ministers." Minis- 
ter d' Yrujo's recall was asked and complied with. Had Spain 
turned a deaf ear to the request, the bill would have passed. This 
was in the year 1807. Jackson, of Great Britain, was recalled in 
1809. He succeeded Erskine, but soon became involved in a 
quarrel with the Secretary of State. His communications were 
indecorous and insolent, and the President directed the secretary 
to receive no further communications from him, and soon asked for 
his recall. This was complied with, but no censure rested upon 
the envoy by his government, neither was another sent in his place 
until after the treaty of peace was signed. 



THE DIPLOMA TIC CORPS. 2 1 9 

Poussin, of France, was recalled in 1849, when Zachary Taylor 
was President. Mr. Crampton, of Great Britain, was handed his 
passports in 1856 ; and intercourse with Russia was suspended in 
187 1 when Mr. Catacazy was recalled. The last was the recall of 
Minister West at the instigation of President Cleveland. 

The homes of the most distinguished of the Legations are the 
British, the Russian, the Mexican and the Chinese. 

The British Legation residence is one of the finest, and was 
built during the time when Sir Edward Thornton was England's 
minister here, at a cost of one hundred and twenty-five thousand 
dollars. It stands on the corner of Connecticut Avenue and N 
Street, and was almost the first house of any pretension built in 
what is now known as the West End. 

The ground was purchased at a small figure, not a tithe of what 
it is worth to-day. The house is a large, commodious brick struct- 
ure, and with its substantial stable, outbuildings and garden, occu- 
pies nearly a square. When it was commenced it was set down in 
a barren waste ; but to-day it is the centre of the fashionable resi- 
dences of Washington. Shade trees stretch their protective 
branches over the building and the English ivy is spreading a 
green mantle over the sombre walls. The house stands far 
enough back from the street to give an air of seclusion to the 
place ; the grounds are enclosed by an iron fence ; and a porte 
cochere, over which is placed the British coat-of-arms, is a promi- 
nent feature. 

The front door is approached by asphalt walks, and another 
leads to a side door on the rear of the house, where the offices of 
the Legation are situated. Two or three small, stuffy rooms in a 
corner are given to official matters ; the rest of the house is the 
minister's private residence. None but his personal friends can 
hope to enter behind the " massive handle of the big front door "; 
a letter may reach him, a card never. If, by a stroke of good 
luck, you obtain the open sesame to this grand home, you will find 
a spacious hall from which rises a heavy, oaken staircase. Upon 
the first landing, in full view, is a magnificent portrait of her Ma- 
jesty, Queen Victoria. It is not a picture of the mother of ten 
children, as we see her to-day, but of a beautiful girl of eighteen in 



220 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

coronation robes. All of the British Legations of the world have, 
as a part of the furniture, a picture of the queen, which is sup- 
plied by the British government. 

The house, one of the largest in Washington, is luxuriously 
furnished, and in it as many can be comfortably entertained as at 
the Executive Mansion. 

The British ministers to the United States, for many years, have 
been almost invariably bachelors or widowers. Sir Charles 
Vaughan, who was the minister when Jackson was President, lived 
in the old Decatur mansion, which is now the residence of General 
Beale. Sir Charles was a beau in general, of the olden style ; he 
was courtly in manner, ceremonious in detail ; he gave numerous 
entertainments, chiefly breakfasts, to the belles of the time, always 
inviting married ladies for chaperons. 

He was succeeded by Minister Fox, who was more distin- 
guished, perhaps, than any other as being the homeliest man in 
Washington. He lived in the house once owned by John Mason, 
now the Infant Asylum, on Pennsylvania Avenue, near Washington 
Circle. He was passionately fond of games. It is said that he 
often played with Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, John M. Clayton 
and James Buchanan, and the amount of money won and lost was 
astounding. 

Mr. Fox was followed by Mr. Pakenham, who lived in the Cor- 
coran house. He was considered a cautious diplomat, looking 
well after England's interest. He entertained royally, and many a 
splendid dinner showed the Italian hand of the cautious diplomat 
in the social menu. 

At the time Sir Philip Crampton was British minister. Lord 
Elgin arrived in Washington to ratify the Reciprocity Treaty with 
Canada. His secretary was Lawrence Oliphant, in whose diary we 
find some interesting matter that makes rather lively reading. 

He says : " We arrived in Washington on the day which was 
pregnant with fate to the destinies of the Republic. The same 
night the celebrated Nebraska bill was passed in Congress, the 
effect of which was to open an extensive territory to slavery, the 
solution of which was to culminate seven years later in civil war." 

"A few nights later, at a dinner given in Lord Elgin's name, by 
a prominent member of Congress, who has since filled the office of 



l^HE DIPLOMATIC CORPS. 221 

Secretary of State, I met Senator Toombs. It was a grand banquet 
at which all the guests were men, with the exception of the wife of 
our host ; he, himself was a Whig, and the situation, politically, was 
freely discussed. 

" Senator Toombs, a large, splendidly developed specimen of 
manhood, had a tendency to orate rather than converse in society. 
He waited for a pause and then addressed Lord Elgin thus : 

' Yes, my Lord, we are about to relume the torch of liberty upon 
the altar of slavery.' 

" Upon which our hostess, with a winning smile and in the most 
silvery accents imaginable, said : 

' Oh, I am so glad to hear you say that again, Senator, for I 
told my husband that you had made use of exactly the same 
expression to me yesterday, and he said you would not have talked 
such nonsense to anybody but a woman.' 

" The shout of laughter which greeted this sally abashed even 
the worthy senator." 

Later on he says : "I am getting perfectly stunned with ha- 
rangues upon political questions. I don't understand, or compre- 
hend the nomenclature of each, Whigs, Democracts, Hard-shells, 
Soft-shells, Freesoilers, and Disunionists, to say nothing of Filli- 
busters, Pollywogs and a host more of nicknames. 

"There are some interesting men here. Colonel Fremont, a 
spare, wiry man with a keen gray eye and a face expressing great 
determination, and Colonel Benton, who is writing a great work, 
and is quite a fine ma?i. 

"After we had received the hospitality of Washington about ten 
days. Lord Elgin announced to Mr. Marcy, the Secretary of State, 
that if the government were prepared to adhere to their promise to 
conclude a treaty of reciprocity with Canada, he could assure the 
President that he would find a majority of the Senate in its favor, 
including several prominent Democrats. 

" A thorny question was intimately associated with the discus- 
sion of this treaty which was settled by it for the time, and this 
was the question of the fisheries off the coast of British North 
America claimed by American fishermen. Meantime, to my inex- 
perienced mind no progress was being made in our mission. 
Lord Elgin had announced its object, on his arrival, to the Presi- 
dent and Secretary of State, and had been informed by them that it 
was quite hopeless to think any such treaty could be carried 
through with the opposition which existed toward it on the part of 
the Democrats, who had a majority in the Senate, without the ratifi- 
cation of which no treaty could be concluded. His lordship was 
farther assured, however, that if he could overcome this opposition 
he would find no difficulty on the part of the government." 



222 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON: 

Pursue the diary a little further and you will see unfolded the 
golden way into the secret service of diplomacy. 

" At last, after several days of uninterrupted festivity, I began 
to see what we were driving at. To make quite sure, I said one 
day to my chief : ' I find all my most intimate acquaintances are 
Democratic senators.' 

"So do I,' he dryly replied, and indeed his popularity among 
them at the end of a week was unbounded." 

Sir Philip Crampton, in honor of the queen's birthday, gave a 
ball. 

" More was accomplished last night in the way of negotiation 
than has been accomplished from the days of the Ashburton 
treaty to the advent of Elgin. 

" We regard the fishery question as settled. Both parties have 
partaken freely of the bait so liberally provided by the fioble host. 
Amid the soft footfalls of fairy feet, the glittering of jewels, the 
graceful sweep of five hundred dollar dresses, the sparkling of 
eyes which shot forth alternately flashes of lightning and love, 
there were two men who seemed to be the observed of all ob- 
servers ; one was Lord Elgin and the other Sir Charles Gray. 

"The large and brilliant company broke up at a late hour, and 
departed for their respective homes, pleased \A\h. their courtly and 
courteous host, pleased with the monarchical form of government 
in England, pleased with the republican form of government in the 
United States, pleased with each other, with themselves and with 
the rest of mankind. 

" The treaty was made out by the midnight oil, so near twelve 
o'clock that it was difficult to say whether the date should be yes- 
terday, or to-day. 

"There is something strangely mysterious and suggestive in 
the scratching of that midnight pen, for it may be scratching fort- 
unes or ruin to toiling millions. 

"Then the statesman takes up his pen to sign his signature ; his 
hand does not shake, though he is very old and knows the abuse 
that is- in store for him from members of Congress and an en- 
lightened pen. That hand, they say, is not unused to a revolver, 
and it does not now waver, though the word he traces may be an 
involver of a revolver again. 

" He is now Secretary of State ; before that he was a judge of the 
Supreme Court; before that a general of the army ; before that a 
governor of a state ; before that Secretary of War ; before that min- 
ister to Mexico ; before that a member of the House of Repre- 
sentatives ; before that a politician ; before that a cabinet-maker. 



THE DIPLOMATIC CORPS. 223 

He ends as he began with Cabinet work ; so he gives us his bless- 
ing and the treaty is duly signed. 

" I retire to dream of its contents, and am troubled in my sleep 
by the recurring refrain of the three impressive words with which 
the pregnant document concludes : ' unmanufactured tobacco and 
rags.' 

" Thus was concluded, in exactly a fortnight, a treaty which had 
been under discussion seven years. 

" Lord Elgin achieved a remarkable diplomatic triumph. He 
was certain of his game from the first, and played it with easy con- 
fidence. All obstacles melted before his subtle touch. 

" Oh, magnates of the nation ! Alas ! alas ! Gastronomy has 
become a fine art in the eyes of an Englishman, and you have 
been pictured to all Europe as devoted apostles." 

In his diary Mr. Oliphant also gives figures to prove the 
enormous commercial advantage given to Canada by the treaty. 
We will leave it to politicians to figure out the advantage to the 
United States. 

" In 1853, the year prior to our mission to Washington, the ex- 
ports to the States amounted to $20,000,000. In 1854 the treaty 
began to operate and the volume went up $33,000,000, and so on 
until 1866, when the treaty was abrogated by the action of the 
Americans when it had reached the high figure of $84,000,000." 

He still insists that the Americans' " Fee, fi, fo, fum, I smell 
the blood of an Englishman," was detrimental to Canada's com- 
mercial prosperity. 

Lord Napier was minister just before the Civil war commenced. 
His wife was one of the most beautiful women ever seen in Wash- 
ington society. 

At the beginning of the war Lord Lyons, a man of rare gifts, a 
bachelor, was sent to represent the mother country. William H. 
Seward was Secretary of State. These men became very intimate 
friends, and it will probably never be known how much this coun- 
try owes to this friendship in warding off an alliance between the 
South and England. 

Sir Frederic Bruce walked in the footsteps of Lord Lyons. He, 
too, was without a family. Sir Frederic and the classic Charles 
Sumner were bosom friends. He died in Boston of diphtheria, 
during President Grant's administration. 

After Mr. Bruce came Sir Edward Thornton, who was the first 



224 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

to live in the present Legation home. He was followed by Sir 
Lionel S. Sackville-West. His household consisted of three 
daughters. The eldest, Victoria, was the presiding lady of the 
Legation ; when she arrived in Washington, in 1881, she was but 
seventeen years of age. In the superintendence of the house, 
directing ceremonial dinners and social entertainments, in fact in 
attending to all the details of such an establishment, she was 
supreme. But perhaps the meed of praise given to this queen of 
society was in the close relation existing between the father and 
daughter ; to him she was always a wise counsellor, a judicious 
manager, a loving, tender daughter. 

Flora, the second daughter, was married to Gabriel Salanson, 
Secretary of the French Legation during her father's stay in Wash- 
ington. Amelia, the youngest daughter, made her de'but with 
great eclat at the Legation. It was one of the seasons of social 
glory. 

Sir Lionel has been succeeded by Sir Julian Pauncefote, who 
affixes the letters K. C. B., C. M. G,, to his name — a courageous 
man, when one letter was sufficient to immortalize his predecessor. 
The newly appointed envoy of the English government to the 
United States, comes with the reputation of being an expert in 
international law. He is renowned for his kindly hospitality. 

Lady Pauncefote was a Miss Cubett by birth, and is a descend- 
ant of the famous Lord mayor of that name. The new envoy ex- 
traordinary and minister plenipotentiary of Queen Victoria to the 
United States, with his accomplished wife, will, undoubtedly^ 
become as popular at Washington as were Minister and Lady 
Thornton, or Minister West and his charming daughters; and 
when the whirligig of time and fortune turns round, their depart- 
ure will be as much regretted as was the Wests' when they left the 
Western continent to seek new homes in the French capital. 

Stewart Castle, on Dupont Circle, was built by Senator Stewart 
of Nevada, about the time the British Legation was built by Sir 
Edward Thornton. For a time they were lone sentinels, watching 
the course of empire take its way toward the West End. 

The English Legation always wears apparently a spick-span 
new dress and assumes a youthful appearance, while Stewart Castle 



THE DIPLOMATIC CORPS. 225 

puts on the air of centuries, resembling some old knight-watch of 
the Rhine, with its towers, turrets and colored windows. 

The Chinese Legation, after many changes of residence, settled 
down in this home, and any evening, in the park and grounds sur- 
rounding the house, may be seen a coterie of celestials in pigtails 
and petticoats, lounging and frolicking in native abandonment. 
There are no ladies attached to the Chinese Legation. The minis- 
ter gives liberally toward the entertainment of Washington society 
in the way of dinner parties, balls, etc., and the members of the 
Legation are seen often wherever society congregates. 

The furnishing of Stewart Castle is much as Mrs. Stewart left it, 
except as oriental fancy has dictated changes. All the arm-chairs 
have been collected in the large drawing-room, where row after 
row are ranged in line until the room looks like a parlor car on 
a large scale. 

The offices of the Legation are on the ground floor ; the upper 
stories are used for domestic purposes. 

The representative of the Czar of Russia lives in the house 
known as " Boss " Shepherd's, on the corner of K Street and Con- 
necticut Avenue, 

When this house became a lost paradise to one of Washington's 
greatest benefactors, it was regained by Senator Cameron. The 
Chinese Legation occupied it before moving to Stewart Castle. 
The rooms are spacious and the drawing-room and ball-room 
quite as commodious as those of the English Legation. 

Russia is represented by Mr. Charles de Struve. His wife, 
Madame de Struve, is a representative Russian lady of great 
ability, speaking English fluently. This is a characteristic of 
educated Russians; for their language once conquered, all others 
become easy. The minister is of German extraction, and al- 
though he is master of several languages, he has not conquered the 
English. 

Their receptions and balls have been of the most brilliant order, 
and have brought back something of the old Bodisco re'gime. 
During the minister's absence from this country, which at times 
has been protracted, the consul-general, Baron Roman Rosen, has 
been acting-charge. 
IS 



226 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

Baroness Rosen is the daughter of General Odenstoff, of the 
Russian army, who is also military governor of Nijni Novgorod, 
where was celebrated, in 1862, the one thousandth anniversary of 
the foundation of the Russian monarchy. On that occasion a 
magnificent monument was erected in its commemoration. 

The baroness is well known and much admired in Washington 
society, being young, handsome and preposessing. 

Mr. Alexander Greger is the second secretary. Through the 
paper-chase and fox-hunts he has become quite famous, and prob- 
ably through his fine horsemanship as much as by any other ac- 
complishment, he has distinguished himself in diplomatic and fash- 
ionable circles. 

The whole German empire owns its own Legation building. It 
is a commonplace looking house, a time-worn, red brick of four 
stories, situated on Fifteenth Street, near Wormley's Hotel. 

The whole German empire is not as large as Nebraska and 
Dakota, by fifteen thousand square miles, but with a population 
as large, by about five millions, as that of the whole United States. 
Diplomatic intercourse between the two countries has moved 
along without jar or friction. The empire is now represented by 
the courtly and accomplished gentleman, Mr. H. von Alvensle- 
ben. Even the Samoan affair has caused but a ripple on the 
diplomatic sea. 

Would that the recent shadow that has draped both nations 
in the habiliments of sorrow, might keep afloat the flag of peace 
over the sea and the islands therein ! 

The Japanese also own their own Legation residence. It is a 
substantial, four-story brick building at 13 10 N Street, purchased 
from General Capron several years ago. 

The present minister, Mr. Jusanmi Riuichi Kuki, is a gentle- 
man of education and culture. He is a connoisseur in art and 
has brought over many fine specimens of Japanese art which, 
added to his American collection, make his home a charming 
and interesting place to visit. 

Madam Hatsee Kuki is of Japanese birth, a lady of culture 
and refinement. The members of the *' Sunrise Kingdom " 



THE DIPLOMATIC CORPS. 22/ 

have contributed largely to the social enjoyment of Washington. 
They readily conform to the customs of the country, in edu- 
cation, manners and dress. It is not a novel affair to see the 
hand of the Japanese oriental given in marriage to the fair of 
the Occident. 

******* 

The Mexican Legation is one of the most attractive homes 
among the foreign representatives. The government is ably 
represented by Senor Don Matias Romero, who has for many 
years been in the diplomatic service of his country, and has 
rendered important assistance, not only to his own country but 
to the United States, in bringing about a better understanding 
between the two nations. 

He has always advanced republican ideas and given his 
support to that form of government in Mexico. His candor, 
stability and ingenuous character, his distinguished service in 
the settlement of all international questions in the trying days 
of this government, drew him very close to General Grant, who 
had so many delicate diplomatic questions to settle, and a 
brotherly friendship sprang up between them, which grew stronger 
as the da3's of their fellowship multiplied. When the great 
general was called by the last summons, there was no more 
sincere mourner among the old veterans than Senor Romero. 

The minister has a happy faculty of drawing friends around 
him, and has a most admirable assistant in the winsome, charm- 
ing Madame Romero. Their magnificent, artistic home, with 
its open hospitality, the brilliant receptions given there, the 
grand ball when the Legation building was finished, will record 
them in history as among the most brilliant entertainers in 

Washington to-day. 

******* 

Among the late additions to the Diplomatic Corps are the 
representatives of Corea. Their fly-screen hats and quaint 
dress have already become familiar objects on the street and 
are no longer a novelty. The king of Corea is adapting his 
kingdom to American ideas as fast as practicable. He has es- 
tablished a Legation in Washington, and has given his envoys 
the privilege of bringing their wives with them. The official 



228 HISTORIC HOMES IM IVASHII/GTON: 

residence is on Iowa Circle, and it has been tastefully furnished 
under the direction of the women of the Legation. Perhaps the 
most disappointing feature about it is that American taste and 
custom have been strictly adhered to, instead of the hoped for 
touch of Corean home decoration. 

The Corean women endeavor to imitate American customs; 
therefore the first reception was a repetition of what one sees in 
any American official's house, save the petite, quaint, decidedly 
native appearance of the oriental ladies themselves. 

In their own land they are not permitted to mingle with the 
outer world. In the center of the city of Seoul, the capital, 
there is an architectural structure in which is suspended a huge 
bell called the Inkiung. At nine o'clock every night an officer 
of the king's household tolls the curfew ; the lights on the moun- 
tain tops simultaneously signal throughout the kingdom that the 
hour for the women to have possession of the city has come. 
The gates of the city are closed, the men retire forthwith 
to their homes, and the ladies sally forth and take possession. 
The women of high degree have the exclusive right of the city, 
and no lord of creation, under a heavy penalty, is allowed to 
trespass upon this right. 

Men and women have no social relations in Corea in com- 
mon. Each home has its quarters for the women, which to 
them is the holy of holies and into which the men never 
enter. 

During the hours of feminine freedom, the men in their homes 
while away the hours sleeping, or drinking their favorite beverage, 
sul, while the women visit each other's homes, being carried 
through the streets in the " toig-hio," or ladies' chair, swung on 
poles and borne by eunuchs. They spend the hours chatting, 
gossiping, singing and having a merry time generally. 

When the solemn tones of Inkiung reverberate through the 
darkness the hilarities cease, the women return to their homes, 
the gates of the city are swung open, another day has been 
recorded to the citizens of Corea, and the world moves on as 
before. 

The women are quick in their movements and rapid in adapta- 
tion. It is told of them that soon after their first reception 



THE DIPLOMATIC CORPS. 229 

the Chinese minister gave one also. The gentlemen of the 
Corean Legation thought it best that their wives should remain at 
home, as the Chinese women are never seen out. The female 
portion were not in accord with the decision, but kept their own 
counsel until the hour arrived for the male portion of the Legation 
to take their seats in the carriage, when, by a preconcerted plan, 
the women stepped into a carriage in the rear of the house, and, 
by a short cut and rapid driving, were in the Chinese Legation 
home, quite at their ease and ready to receive their liege lords 
on their arrival. They are practising, as far as possible, what 
they believe, that, " when you are in Rome you must do as the 
Romans do," 

Mr. Allen, an American, is their secretary and interpreter, and 
has been painstaking in his endeavors to place Corea and its 
people intelligently before this Republic. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

AN HISTORIC RECEPTION— LA FAYETTE'S LAST VISIT TO WASH- 
INGTON. 

Republics Accused of Ingratitude— But Generous towards La Fayette— La 
Fayette Returns to America— The Nation alive with Enthusiasm- 
Received in Washington— Letter of Mrs. Seaton— The "Tent of 
Washington " — The Mayor's Address— La Fayette's Reply— Bits from a 
Manuscript Letter— William Lee writes to his Sister— How the Recep- 
tion was Organized— La Fayette at the White House— Meets President 
Monroe— His Bosom Friend— Banquet at Gadsby's Hotel — Copy of the 
Invitations — La Fayette Breakfasts with the President — Memorable 
Reminiscences — La Fayette in Georgetown— At Arlington Heights — A 
Deputation from Alexandria receives Him — Visits Mount Vernon — Pre- 
sented with a Ring— Custis' Address — La Fayette's Response — The Gen- 
eral visits Yorktown, Richmond and Monticello — Departs for Montpelier, 
the Home of Madison — Returns to Washington — Invited to a Seat in 
the Senate and House — A Magnificent Present from Congress— Bids 
America Farewell. 

Republics have been accused of ingratitude, but when it is 
remembered how the United States acted toward General La Fay- 
ette, when it is remembered that, in addition to tangible proofs 
of gratitude, he was made cognizant of the afifectionate attachment 
of this people, in the sear and yellow leaf of his life, it may per- 
haps be acknowledged that, after all there is no better legacy than 
the gratitude of a free people. 

La Fayette had expressed himself desirous of again visiting this 
country, of once more beholding the scenes of his youthful glory ; 
and Congress on February 4, 1824, resolved that " whenever 
the President shall be informed of the time when the Marquis may 
be ready to embark, a national ship with suitable accommodations 
be employed to bring him to the United States." 

The modest, retiring La Fayette declined the honor of going in 

230 



AN HISTORIC reception: 23 1 

a national vessel, and took passage in a private ship. On the 
twelfth of July, 1824, he embarked on board the packet ship, 
Cadmus, and on August 16, landed at New York. When it 
was known that he had once more set sail for the country of his 
adoption, the whole nation was alive with enthusiasm, and every 
son and daughter of America prepared to give him welcome. 
After New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore and other cities 
had given General La Fayette welcomes that did honor to them- 
selves as well as to their illustrious guest, he turned his course 
southward. 

He left Baltimore October 11, 1824, accompanied by the mayor, 
the committee of arrangements, the governor's aids and an escort 
of cavalry to Rossburg, where he lodged Monday night. The 
following day he was accompanied by the same escort to the line 
of the District of Columbia, which was near the spot where Gen- 
eral Ross, ten years before, had brought up his troops and made 
the attack on the American forces, before entering and burning 
Washington. 

Here General La Fayette was met by a brilliant procession, 
which was headed by a corps of cavalry and supported by a caval- 
cade of citizens, the whole extending over two miles. Through- 
out the entire route, the wayside was thronged with citizens who 
made the air resound with their shouts of welcome. 

Among the noteworthy incidents attending La Fayette's recep- 
tion in Washington, was that described in a letter from Mrs. Sea- 
ton, wife of the renowned editor of the National I/itelHgencer, in 
a letter to her mother, in Richmond. 

" October, 1824. 
" Dear Mother : 

" I don't know how it was, but I certainly figured more than I 
had any wish or expectation of doing on the day of La Fayette's 
arrival. In the first place I was selected by the committee of 
arrangements to superintend the dress and decorations of twenty- 
five young ladies representing the States and District of Columbia, 
and to procure appropriate wreaths, scarfs and La Fayette gloves 
and flags for the occasion ; to assemble them at my house and 
attend them under my protection to the Capitol. 

" The General was conducted to Capitol Square, the east of 
the Capitol, where a civic arch, elegantly decorated and enlivened 



232 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

with appropriate inscriptions, had been erected. Under this arch 
were the twenty-five young ladies, each bearing a banner desig- 
nating the State and District she represented. As soon as the 
General arrived, Miss S. M. Watterson, representing the District, 
and only eleven years old, advanced and made a very appropriate 
address, (This was the daughter of George Watterson, librarian 
of Congress.) It would be hard to describe the feeling which La 
Fayette manifested at this scene. He shook hands with each of 
the group and passed on to the rotunda and entered the ' tent of 
Washington.' " 

When the general entered the gate of Fort McHenry, of Balti- 
more, the troops of the garrison presented arms, then opened to 
the right and left, bringing to his view the tent of Washington, 
the same tent under which he had many times grasped the 
friendly hand of our illustrious Washington and aided him by 
timely suggestion, and where he had often shared with him the sol- 
diers' hardy meal. The same tent that is tenderly cared for by the 
children of this Republic, and that occupies, to-da}', an honored 
niche in the great National Museum, This tent was brought from 
Baltimore to Washington, and under it was La Fayette met by the 
mayor and other authorities, officers, clergy, etc. 

To an address of welcome from the mayor, the general made 
the following reply : 

" The kind and flattering reception with which I am honored 
by the citizens of Washington, exacts the most lively feelings of 
gratitude. Those grateful feelings, sir, at every step of my 
happy visit to the United States, could not but enhance the inex- 
pressible delight I have enjoyed at the sight of the immense and 
wonderful improvements, so far beyond even the fondest anticipa- 
tions of a warm American heart, and which, in the space of forty 
years, have so gloriously evinced the superiority of popular insti- 
tutions and self-government over the too imperfect state of politi- 
cal civilization found in every country of the other hemisphere. 

" In this august place, which bears the most venerable of all 
ancient and modern names, I have, sir, the pleasure to contem- 
plate, not only a centre of that constitutional union so necessary 
to these States, so important to the interests of mankind, but also 
a great political school where attentive observers from other parts 
of the world may be taught the practical science of true social 
order. Among the circumstances of my life, to which you have 



AN HISTORIC RECEPTION. 



233 



been pleased to allude, none can afford me such dear recollections 
as my having been early adopted as an American soldier ; so there 
is not a circumstance of my reception in which I take so much 
pride as in sharing those honors with my beloved companions in 
arms. 

" Happy am I to feel that the marks of affection and esteem 
bestowed on me, bear testimony to my perseverance in American 
principles, I received under the " Tent of Washington," and of 
which I shall, to my last breath, prove myself a devoted disciple. 

" I beg you, Mr. Mayor, and the gentlemen of the corporation, 
to accept my respectful acknowledgments to you and to the citi- 
zens of Washington." 

From a manuscript letter of William Lee (written to his sisters 
then residing in Paris), who became a warm friend of La Fayette 
durmg the years he lived in France as Secretary to Joel Barlow, 
and later, consul to Bordeaux, and who at this time was second 
auditor of the Treasury Department, we make the following quota- 
tion, for which we are indebted to the kindness of his nephew, 
Dr. William Lee. 

" I was at the President's all day yesterday. He sent for me to 
consult about the reception of General La Fayette, as he did not 
like the arrangements of the corporation, who propose that the 
President and all the members of the Court should join in the 
procession. This is what we concluded on : The corporation 
will meet the general at the city boundaries " (It must be remem- 
bered that all travel by land in those days was by private convey- 
ance,) " conduct him to the Capitol, address him there, and then 
proceed with him to the President's gates; here, he only, with his 
suite of a few Revolutionary officers, is to enter. The President 
will be surrounded by the heads of departments, officers of the 
Court and navy commissioners. General Brown will receive him 
in the saloon ; none of the city authorities or populace will be 
admitted. After this ceremony is ended, we shall deliver him to 
the corporation at the gates, and they will conduct him to 
Gadsby's, where eighty people are to dine with him." 

This was strictly carried out. The streets were lined with spec- 
tators and the windows filled with ladies, waving handkerchiefs, 
and bestowing loving benedictions on the beloved guest. 

On arriving at the White House La Fayette was received by 
the marshal of the District, and supported by General Brown and 
Commander Tingley of the committee of arrangements, and con- 



234 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

ducted to the drawing-room, where President Monroe advanced to 
meet him and gave him a cordial and affectionate welcome. 

The President had on his right hand the Secretary of State, 
John Quincy Adams, and Secretary of the Treasury, William H. 
Crawford ; and on his left the Secretaries of the Army and Navy, 
John C. Calhoun and Samuel S. Southard ; while the Attorney- 
General, General Jessup ; Colonel Gibson, Colonel Towson, Major 
Nourse and Dr. Lovell, of the Army ; Captain Rogers, Chauncey 
Porter, Commodore Jones, and Charles Morris of the Navy ; the 
Postmaster-General, the comptrollers, auditors and other high 
officers of the government were arranged on each side of the 
room. 

It will be remembered that the East Room, in the early part of 
the Monroe administration, was the play-room of Mrs. Monroe's 
daughters, and that it was during her reign that the stately furni- 
ture which adorned that room for nearly half a century was 
bought in Paris by the Government. Each article was surmounted 
by the royal crown of Louis XVIII. This was removed and the 
American eagle took its place. These chairs and sofas have often 
come out from the upholsterers' hands renewed, the emblematic 
eagle having put on a brighter burnish, but, alas ! this historic 
furniture, fraught with so many memories of great men and women 
passed away, has gone under the auctioneer's hammer that the 
nation's drawing-room might masquerade in modern furniture. 

La Fayette found three of his old associates ex-Presidents — 
Adams, Jefferson, Madison ; and his bosom friend, Monroe, Presi- 
dent. 

After the ceremonies recorded above, and an interchange of 
courtesies, during which bountiful refreshments were served, the 
general took his departure and rejoined his escort at the gate ; he 
then passed in review the body of troops and retired to Gadsby's 
hotel, known as the Franklin. 

This hotel stood upon the corner of Twentieth and I Streets 
and is to-day known as Gadsby's Row. 

Annie Royal, in her " Sketches " says the newspapers furnished 
daily accounts of La Fayette's movements, and long before he 
arrived we had La Fayette ribbons, La Fayette waistcoats, La 
Fayette feathers, hats, caps, gloves, etc. ; everything was honored 



AN HISTORIC RECEPTION. 235 

by his image and superscription ; even the ginger cakes were 
impressed with his name, and nothing was heard in the streets or 
in the houses but La Fayette, La Fayette ! 

A banquet was given at Gadsby's hotel to the general. The 
form of invitation to this historic festival was characteristic of the 
simplicity of style then prevalent. A copy of one is given 
below. 

" The Committee of Arrangements respectfully 
request the Secretary of War to Jitie with Gen- 
eral La Fayette, this day, at the Franklin Bouse, 
at five o'clock. 

" W. W. Seaton, Secretary. 

One of the toasts on this occasion was, "The United Slates and 
France, their early friendship ; may it ever be maintained by mut- 
ual acts of kindness and justice." 

The next day the general called on the President, and on the 
following day he was with the President's family to breakfast and 
dinner. 

It is probable that memories of thirty years before crowded the 
minds of this trio ; when Monroe was minister plenipotentiary to 
France, and the Marquis de La Fayette a prisoner in Austria, and 
Madame de La Fayette and her two little children in prison at La 
Force. All remember the visit of Mrs. Monroe to Madame La 
Fayette in prison. 

Mr. Monroe decided to risk displeasure with himself by sending 
his wife to see Madame La Fayette. The name of La Fayette 
was too dear to every American to accept indignities heaped upon 
this woman. 

Mr. Monroe was recalled, but time justified his action, and the 
people said, " Go up higher ! " He was at this time occupying the 
highest place in the gift of the people, and the whole country was 
doing homage to the prisoner of Olmutz. 

General La Fayette, on Thursday, was received at Georgetown 
by the mayor, and military escort and citizens, ready to demon- 
strate their gratitude to the great hero. 

During his stay here he visited Mr. William Parke Custis of 
Arlington Heights. While in conversation with Mrs. Custis upon 



236 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

the improvements of Arlington, he said, " recollect, my dear, how 
much easier it is to cut a tree down than it is to make it grow." 
Who can tell how much the country owes to-day to that proverb, 
timely put for the beautiful forest that shades the graves of her 
noble dead ! 

On Saturday he was escorted by the mayor and committee of 
arrangements in Washington, and the Georgetown cavalry, to the 
other side of the river, where he was received by a deputation 
from Alexandria. He entered the old commonwealth of Virginia 
at Alexandria, October i6lh. At every point he was warmly wel- 
comed. There was a military escort of fifteen hundred. In the 
procession there was a car bearing the " Tent of Washington," 
The procession passed through crowded streets, under splendid 
arches amidst the huzzas of a grateful people. On the apex of a 
magnificent arch was perched a live mountain eagle of very large 
size, who spread his wings when the general passed, as if to 
unite in the welcome. 

He held a levee in the evening ; the public buildings and many 
private dwellings were brilliantly illuminated. It must be remem- 
bered that Alexandria in those days was not a " finished city," but 
rivalled the largest seaport towns of America. 

Sunday General La Fayette visited Mount Vernon and the tomb 
of Washington, his revered father and friend. While there he 
was presented by Mr. Custis with a ring containing a lock of hair 
of the sainted hero, together with the Masonic sash and jewel 
belonging to the great Mason, accompanied by the following 
address : 

** Last of the generals of the Army of Independence ! At this 
awful and impressive moment, when, forgetting the splendor of a 
triumph greater than Roman consul ever had, you bend with rev- 
erence over the remains of Washington, the child of Mount Ver- 
non presents you with this token containing the hair of him whom 
you loved while living, and to whose honored grave you now pay 
the manly and affecting tribute of a patriot's and a soldier's 
tear. 

'* The ring has ever been an emblem of the union of hearts 
from the earliest stages of the world, and this will unite the affec- 
tions of the American to the person and posterity of La Fayette, 
now and hereafter. And when your descendants of a later day 



AN HISTORIC reception: 



237 



shall behold this valued relic, it will remind them of the heroic 
virtues of their illustrious sire, who received it, not in the palace of 
princes, nor amid the pomp and vanities of life, but at the laurelled 
grave of Washington. 

" Do you ask is this mausoleum befitting the ashes of a Marcus 
Aurelius, or the good Antonius ? I tell you that the Father of his 
Country lies buried in the hearts of his countrymen, and in those 
of the brave, the good, the free of all ages and'nations. 

" Do you seek for the tablets which are to convey his fame to 
immortality ? They have long been written in the freedom and 
happiness of this country. These are the monumental trophies of 
Washington, the great, and will endure when the proudest works 
of art have dissolved and left not a wreck behind ! 

" Venerable man ! Will you never tire in the cause of freedom 
and human happiness ? Is it not time that you should rest from 
your labors and repose on the bosom of a country which delights 
to love and honor you, and will teach her children's children to 
bless your name and memory? Surely where liberty dwells, 
there must be the country of La Fayette ! 

" Our fathers witnessed the dawn of your glory, partook of its 
meridian splendor ; and, ah ! let their children enjoy the benign 
radiance of your setting sun ; and when it shall sink in the hori- 
zon of nature here, here with pious duty we will form your sepul- 
chre, and united in death as in life, by the side of the great chief, 
you will rest in peace till the last trump shall awake the slumber- 
ing world and call your virtues to their great reward. 

" The joyous shouts of millions of free men hailed your return- 
ing footprints on our sands. The arms of millions are open wide 
to take you to their grateful hearts, and the prayers of millions 
ascend to the throne of the Eternal that the choicest blessings of 
Heaven may cheer the latest days of La Fayette'' 

General La Fayette having received the ring, pressed it to his 
bosom, and replied : 

" The feelings which at this awful moment oppress my heart do 
not leave the power of utterance. I can only thank you, my dear 
Custis, for your precious gift. I pay a silent homage to the tomb 
of the greatest and the best of men, my paternal friend." 

The following Monday the general proceeded down the Poto- 
mac, visiting Yorktown, Richmond ahd Monticello, the home of 
Jefferson. It is said when Jefferson and La Fayette met, they fell 
into the arms of each other, and remained locked in silent embrace 
for several minutes before their feelings could find utterance. 



238 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

From thence he departed for Montpelier, the home of his 
esteemed friend, Madison. Here he was also received with open 
arms and made welcome. 

His engagement at Washington brought him back November 
23d. Upon his return both houses of Congress, upon the report of 
committees, especially appointed to recommend a suitable manner 
of receiving the General, resolved as foUows : 

IN SENATE. 

''Resolved, That the President of the United States invite 
General de La Fayette to take a seat in the Senate Chamber agree- 
able to his wishes, that the committee deliver the invitation to the 
General and introduce him into the Senate Chamber, and that 
the members receive him standing." 

The House passed similar resolutions. General La Fayette 
was the only public character that had ever been received by the 
Senate of the United States. Of all the proud triumphs through 
which this grand old hero was called to pass, after landing on the 
shores of America, this was undoubtedly the most glorious and 
most gratifying. 

On Monday, December 20, Mr. Hayne, from the committee to 
whom the subject was referred of making provision for General 
La Fayette, reported to the Senate a bill providing that the sum 
of two hundred thousand dollars be granted Major-General de La 
Fayette ; also one complete and entire township of land to be 
located upon any of the public lands that remained unsold. The 
bill passed both houses. 

La Fayette's reply was : ** The gift is so munificent, so far 
exceeding the services of the individual, that had I been a mem- 
ber of Congress I must have voted against it." 

The following spring, about the time that James Monroe let drop 
the reins of official life in the Executive Mansion, and John 
Quincy Adams took them up. General La Fayette bade farewell 
to Washington, and started on his tour through the States. 

La Fayette's name is one that has been consecrated to fame. 
Into the life of this country his name has been woven, and it will 
be only when the records and the chronicles of this nation are 



AN HISTORIC RECEPTION 



239 



blotted out, that his name and the memory of his noble deeds will 
be forgotten. The services he rendered to America, to the world 
and to liberty, will record his name on the page of history, and 
the sons of liberty will forever revere the names of Washington 
and La Fayette. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

CALVERT MANOR, KALORAMA, THE SEVEN BUILDINGS, AND OLD 

CARROLL ROW. 

Calvert Manor — A half-hour's Drive — A Flood-tide of Memories — In the Long 
Ago — Old Bladensburg — Terrapin and Canvas Backs — A Remnant of the 
" Have Beens " — The Outposts — The Calvert Estate — The old Burying- 
ground — The Manor House — The Growth of Centuries — Henry Clay's 
Room — The Missouri Compromise Bill — An ancient Wardrobe — House 
built by Henry Stier — Father of Mrs. Calvert — Gay Festivities — Interior 
Decorations — Autograph Letter of Henry Clay to Calhoun — Fading Foot- 
prints — Time and Change show their Work — Kalorama — Suburban Resi- 
dence — Home of Joel Barlow — Author of the '" Columbiad " — " Beautiful 
View " — Barlow a Poet — Author of the " Hasty Pudding " — Robert Fulton 
— Barlow's Home in Paris — Longs for his Native Land — Purchases Kalo- 
rama — Beautifies It — Fulton's Model of the Clermont — Experiment on 
Rock Creek — Tom Paine a Visitor at Kalorama — Paine and Fulton's 
Memorial Trees — Relations between France and England strained — Barlow 
again sent Abroad — An Inopportune Time — Napoleon Foiled by Russia — 
Barlow left at Wilna — The Treaty lost — Mr. Barlow dies on the way back 
— Mr. Barlow's Niece — His Love of Country — Godfather of the Steam- 
boat — Talent Unrecognized — Wifely Love — We shall look for Kalorama 
and Find it Not — The Seven Buildings — Among the earlier Houses — 
Elbridge Gerry — The Venerable Mrs. Townsend — House corner of Penn- 
sylvania Avenue and Nineteenth Street — President Monroe's temporary 
Home — Mr. Fry, Chief Clerk's House — Governor Thomas Johnson — Mrs. 
John Quincy Adams' and Mrs. Fry's Father — Propose Washington Com- 
mander-in-chief — Joseph Forrest owned two Houses — The Forrest Family 
— In the Southern Confederacy — His Property confiscated — P.ought by 
Hon. Alfred Ely — Suit of Douglas Forrest — Past glories of the Seven 
Buildings — Old Carroll Row — A new Library Building — Duff Green Row 
— Afterwards Carroll Prison — Originally a Hotel — "Nick Queen's" — 
Simon Cameron an Apprentice — Home of Guiseppe Franzoni — Persuasion 
brought him to America — From beautiful Florence to Washington, in 1807 
— Silk Stockings and Knee-breeches — Buys a Home — Jefferson, Franzoni's 
Friend — His Sunday Guest — His beautiful Works burned by the British — 
Died in this Country — His brother Carlos came to Washington — The 

240 



CAL VERT, K A LOR A MA, AND CARROLL ROW. 24 I 

Franzoni Clock — John Q. Adams' poetical Address to the Clock — Mis- 
taken History — Portrait of Carlos Franzoni — A Bas-relief — A curious 
Study — A Libel on Franzoni's Name — The only National Architecture — 
A Question Unsettled — Old Capitol Prison — Three historical Flights — 
Congress without a Home — Temporary Building — Run up in a Night 
— James Monroe Inaugurated in front of this Building — John C. Calhoun 
died here — Annie Royal's Printing House — Wirz and Belle Boyd Impris- 
oned here. 

A HALF hour's drive from the Capitol, through a quiet, pictur- 
esque country, studded with neat and thrifty little farms and fruit 
nurseries, where the beautifying touch of the florist has made the 
waste places blossom like the rose, will bring you to the quaint, 
historic old town of Bladensburg. The very name brings back a 
flood-tide of memories. 

Here, you remember, is where General Ross brought up his 
flotilla, and the red-coats disembarked just below the bridge, and 
advanced toward the Capitol. That was in the long ago ; since 
then even the river has run its race and been lost in the eternal 
deep, like the lives of the men who fought to protect their country 
and its capital. Here, too, to your right, just before you reach 
the bridge, was the ground that often witnessed meetings made 
necessary by the code of honor ( ? ). 

In old Bladensburg, in an humble cottage, was born the Hon. 
William Wirt. You will look in vain to-day for a place where you 
would think men like Jefferson, Clay, Calhoun, Webster and 
Benton would revel in terrapin, oysters and canvas-backs, after a 
day's hard-fought battle of words at the Capitol. It takes a 
broad sweep of the imagination to people this place, and furnish 
it with the comforts, to say nothing of the luxuries, which belong to 
our idea of those days. 

A few minutes drive, and you have passed the time-worn, tumble- 
down old town, a remnant of the " have beens," and enter the 
pretty, peaceful village of Hyattsville. Half a mile farther on are 
two small brick buildings ; between these a carriage drive branches 
off from the pike, and winds through a large, undulating meadow, 
leading to Riverdale station. These buildings, like old Bladens- 
burg, are time-worn and weather-beaten ; the very granite gate- 
posts have grown weary and lopping with age. These houses 
were the porters' lodges of the old Calvert -^state. which for a hun- 
16 



242 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

dred years has been the home of the descendants of Lord Balti- 
more, Cecil Calvert being the founder of the Maryland Colony. 

The very outposts of the place tell its history. They are now 
only a retreat for bats and owls. The railroad divides the estate, 
but before you reach the station, on a gently rising knoll, at your 
left, is the old burial ground of the Calverts. Upon the head- 
stones we find the names of George Calvert, youngest son of Bene- 
dict Calvert, and grandson of Cecil Calvert, the sixth Lord 
Baltimore and Rosalie Eugenia Calvert, daughter of Henry Stier, 
of Antwerp, Holland, and four small children, all of whom died in 
the early part of the century. John Custis, son of Martha Wash- 
ington, married Miss Eleanor Calvert, of Mount Airy, Prince 
George County, Maryland, a sister of George Calvert. 

After passing the station and following a winding road through 
the meadow lands, you come to the manor house, quite hidden 
from view by the grand old oaks and elms, with their thick, dark 
foliage casting heavy shadows upon the picturesque and ancient- 
looking place. If these grand old trees, the growth of centu- 
ries, could speak, what tales they would tell ! They have been 
silent spectators of many a gay and festive scene in this historic 
home. The elves in their branches have peeped in at the win- 
dows, taking note of many a gay cavalier in knee-breeches and 
powdered wig, leading the ladies, arrayed in the quaint and beauti- 
ful costumes of a century ago, through the stately minuet ; but 
whispering leaves tell no tales, and we have only to imagine the 
story they have kept through the years. 

We do know who were some of the friends of George Calvert. 
We know that Henry Clay was such a boon companion of his, 
that a room was set apart for him, which is still known as the Clay 
room. When he wished for rest, or seclusion, this was his retreat. 
It is a large, square room looking out upon an idyllic view of 
meadow land, dotted here and there with broad old oaks sur- 
rounded by an expanse of woods as far as the eye can reach ; now 
and then can be caught a glimpse of a silver stream, winding its 
way in and out; while beneath the windows is a miniature lake, in 
the centre of which is a little island, with the remains of a rustic 
summer-house upon it, gone sadly to decay. And here sat Henry 
Clay, when he drafted the famous Missouri Compromise Bill. 



CAL VERT, K A LOR AM A, AND CARROLL ROW. 243 

The room now looks bare and desolate, having been dismantled 
of everything that once gave it an air of comfort. There is a pic- 
ture of Henry Clay and his home, Ashland, hanging over the 
mantel ; and one solitary piece of furniture, an ancient wardrobe 
in which they say the Sage of Ashland used to hang his claw-ham- 
mer coat, nankeen vest and broadcloth breeches, after a day's 
hard fought battle in the Senate with Calhoun, or Benton, or 
some of the other great political warriors of the day. 

The house was erected by Henry Stier, who was father of Mrs. 
George Calvert. It is built in the characteristic style of many of 
the homes of Southern gentlemen ; large, roomy and massive, sur- 
rounded by a lawn of fifty acres stretching out to the north, giving 
you, at a glance, an intimation of the hospitality for which they 
are so noted. As many as fifty fair dames and chivalrous cava- 
liers have been entertained under this hospitable roof, after a 
night of gay festivities. 

There is a portico surrounding the front door, the roof of which 
is said to be supported by pillars that were originally made for 
the dome of the Capitol, but being too short, were sold to Mr. 
Stier. The front doors are of solid oak, and in their massiveness 
are in keeping with the architectural grandeur of the old place. 

The hall, or more properly, corridor, is large and spacious ; one 
door out of this leads into the saloon, and a door at either end 
leads into the wings of the building. The saloon is a large, im- 
posing room. The south side space is quite taken up by high 
arched windows, from which the eyes rest upon the same peaceful 
landscape as in the Clay room above. 

This room is ornamented with fine wood carving and stucco 
work, for which the old colonial times were famous. A brass 
mounted chandelier with the prism effects sought to-day, is sus- 
pended from the ceiling. The walls are vivid green. This pecul- 
iar characteristic is found throughout the house ; one room is 
pink, another deep fawn-color, another blue. 

The draviring-room and the dining-room to the east and west, 
have each marble mantles, said to have been carved and sent 
from Carrara, Italy. 

The stairway, over which so many of the dignitaries of the 
country have passed, leads from the west wing. The casing is 



244 HISTORIC HOMES IiV WASHINGTON: 

ornamented by a beautiful arabesque pattern. The newel-post 
and railing are of solid mahogany and oak. 

The steps are broad and low, easy of access, and when you 
have once made the ascent, you go on and on, past room after 
room ; and it can easily be imagined how so many guests could be 
cared for. Some of the rooms, to be sure, are very limited in space, 
but a night in one of them would be far preferable to a ride of 
twenty or thirty miles, after the small hours had closed the mazes 
of the dance. In those days little was thought of a horseback 
ride of twenty miles to attend a ball. 

At the end of the west-wing is the library. Two sides of the 
room are occupied by mahogany bookcases that reach from the 
floor to the ceiling. Emptied of their contents, they are but in 
keeping with the banquet-hall-deserted look of the whole place. 
One solitary ornament still keeps vigil ; a marble bust of Robert 
Burns looks down from its lofty perch over the door, and you can 
imagine it saying : 

" I bless and praise thy matchless might, 
That I am here afore thy sight, 

For gifts and grace, 
A burnin' and a shinin' light 

To a' this place." 

In one of the chambers stands a solitary piece of antique furni- 
ture, an ancient wardrobe and dressing-case combined. It is 
made of walnut, with mahogany veneering, which is cracked, 
twisted and blistered by the heat and dampness of years ; solid 
and cumbersome in appearance, supported by the heavy, conven- 
tional legs, side pieces for wardrobe accommodations, swinging 
mirror and candelabra, and drawers underneath. 

The family safe is built in the wall, guarded by a heavy iron 
plate door. There are many interesting relics laid away therein, 
among which is an autograph letter of George Calvert to the 
Federal Gazette, referring to a visit of La Fayette to Georgetown. 
He was also a guest at the manor. 

There is also an autograph letter from Henry Clay to Mr. Cal- 
vert, in clear and legible hand. It refers to the bronze duplicate 
of the gold medal presented to Clay, at the National Hotel, not 
long before his death. The original was lost on its way to New 



CALVERT, KALORAMA, AND CARROLL ROW. 245 

York to be recast, the profile of the head of Clay on one side 
being imperfect ; giving an added value to the duplicate. 

The reverse side of the duplicate bronze bears this inscription : 

Senate 1811 — Speaker 1811 — War of 1812 with Great 
Britain — Ghent 1814 — Spanish American 1822 — Missou- 
ri Compromise 1821 — American System 1824 — Greece 
1824 — Secretary of State 1825 — Panama Instructions 
1826 — Tariff Compromise 1833 — Public Domain 1833- 
1841 — Peace with France preserved 1835 — Compromise 
1850. 

In the surrounding out-houses you see the fading footprints of 
a slave oligarchy. The negro quarters are in a dilapidated, tum- 
ble-down condition. A large tower rises from the midst of them, 
in which still hangs the old bell that called the slaves to duty ; it 
has grown green and rusty with age and idleness, and its tongue 
is palsied and silent forever. 

Following a beautiful winding road, a half mile to the east, 
underneath a network of osage orange, which forms a hedge on 
either side and a canopy overhead, you pass what was once the 
overseer's house, and come to the barn, a large, octagon-shaped 
structure with stalls arranged around the outer circle, each bearing 
the inscription of " her ladyship's " name. We find that of 
Corinne, Alberta, Jessie, Columbia and a hundred and fifty others 
who have chewed their cud of contentment in this palatial home ; 
but one lone creature remains, a silent looker on. Change and 
desolation are written every step of the way. The old barn is but 
an index of the manor house itself, which is slowly crumbling and 
going to decay. The disintegrating touch of time and change has 
left its mark in this home of the Calverts, individually, morally and 

physically. 

******* 

A little more than a mile from the President's house, directly 
north from Twenty-first Street, you come to one of the most beau- 
tiful of Washington's suburban residences, Kalorama. The house 
was built early in the century (1805) by Joel Barlow, the well- 
known author of the "Columbiad." 

After you enter the gate and pass the porter's lodge, every turn 
in the winding roadway brings to your eyes visions of beauty, and 



246 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

when you reach the plateau upon which the house stands, you 
fully comprehend the name Kalorama, — " beautiful view." To 
your right is seen silent, restful Arlington ; to your left the grace- 
ful lines of the Capitol are clean cut against the eastern sky. At 
your feet the Potomac stretches and winds its way through the 
undulating hills until it seems a silver thread woven in the land- 
scape. 

The grounds are shadowed with graceful woods and softened 
with green pastures, the glens and vales gather in their surface 
many sources to delight the eye. Rock Creek is below, with all 
its environments of gray cliffs and hanging vines, wild flowers, 
ferns and mosses. 

Mr. Barlow, the owner of Kalorama, was born in Connecticut 
in 1754. He was a graduate of Yale College. His biographer, 
Todd, ranks him first as a philanthropist, second as a statesman, 
third as a philosopher and fourth as a poet. His philanthropy 
creeps out in every line of his writings, in every act of his life. 
His letters to Washington, to the citizens of the United States, to 
Monroe while abroad on the French mission, and his Fourth of 
July oration at Washington, give evidence of broad and liberal 
statesmanship. His philosophical turn was most apparent in his 
private letters and intercourse with familiar friends. 

A charming mock pastoral, writ^ten in Savoy at a time when he 
was called to go there with the commissioners of the National 
Association, gives his claim to true poetic genius. In a little inn, 
in Chamberg, the poem, " Hasty Pudding," had its birth. 

He was sent to France as the agent for the Sciote Land Com- 
pany, and his home was in Paris many years. It was during this 
time that Robert Fulton, then a young man, made Mr. Barlow's 
acquaintance. A warm friendship sprang up between him and 
the young inventor, and for seven years there was a room in the 
poet's house and a seat at his fireside always reserved for Fulton. 
It is said the relation between them was like father and son. 

It seems, from private letters, that Mr. Barlow furnished the 
funds for Fulton's experiments with his torpedoes, steam and 
navigation projects while abroad. Also after he came back to 
America, as the following letter will show. " Toot " was the pet 
name for Fulton. 



CALVERT, KALORAMA, AND CARROLL ROW. 247 

*' Toot : Your reasoning is perfectly right about inventions and 
the spirit of the patent' laws, and 1 have no doubt it may be 
secured in America. My project would be that you should pass 
directly over to England ; silent and steady, make Chapman con- 
struct an engine twelve inches, while you are building a boat of a 
proportionate size; make the experiments on that sc3i\Q, all quiet 
and quick. If it answers, put the machinery on board a vessel 
and go directly to New York, ordering another engine as large as 
you please, to follow you. Then secure your patent and begin 
your operation, hrst small and then large. I think I will find you 
the funds without any noise for the first operation in England, 
and if it promises well, you will get as many funds and friends in 
America as you want." 

Mr. Barlow lived in Paris eighteen years. In all this time, 
with all his cares, his love for his native land did not diminish. 
The completion of his " Columbiad," the preparation for its illus- 
tration, in which Fulton was of great assistance, and a partner- 
ship in Fulton's inventive enterprises left him few leisure mo- 
ments. 

But to return to his beloved America was his dream. At 
length, in 1804 he wrote home that he was in England on his way 
to America, where he arrived in the following May. But he 
found great changes had taken place. Ohio, Tennessee, Ver- 
mont and Kentucky had been admitted into the Union. Politics 
had changed. The Constitution had been adopted and had been 
tried as by fire. Washington was dead. Federalism had suc- 
ceeded to the more powerful Republicanism. The Republicans 
rejoiced at Barlow's return, and the Federalists mourned. They 
could see nothing good in his Republicanism, or in the man, who, 
in his Algerian mission alone had won laurels for himself in doing 
such service for his suffering countrymen. 

Soon after his return he purchased the old mansion on the hill, 
between Georgetown and the capital, with thirty acres of land. 
He soon transformed it into one of the most beautiful country- 
seats of the time, and called it Kalorama. Mr. Barlow had a 
cultivated taste, and wealth to indulge it. Mr. Latrobe, the 
architect of the Capitol, gave him assistance, and Robert Fulton 
lent his genius to the embellishment of the house and grounds. 

The park, covered, with forest trees, was left in its natural state ; 



248 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

walks, drives, flowers, fountains, summer houses were added to 
enhance the beauty of the grounds. The house was furnished, it 
is said, with republican simplicity, yet an air of elegance pervaded 
the rooms. In the years spent abroad, they had made a rare col- 
lection of paintings, curios and bric-k-brac which were distributed 
with taste throughout the house. His library, especially, was 
rich in rare and valuable books. 

This charming retreat became the Holland House of America. 
The President, Jefferson, and afterward Madison, were often 
there in conversation with Mr. Barlow, and it is well understood 
that he helped largely to mould the policy of this government 
towards France through two administrations. 

Congressmen, foreigners, authors, poets, inventors and men of 
genius in every calling have been entertained beneath this roof. 
Robert Fulton is said to have constructed his model of the Cler- 
mont at Kalorama, and it was on Rock Creek the first experi- 
mental steamer was made to ply the waters. This was a short 
time before the public trial and successful sail up the Hudson. 
It was here also that he tested his torpedoes, and tried to per- 
suade Congress to consider his navigation projects. 

Thomas Paine was also a visitor at Kalorama. These men, 
Thomas Paine and Robert Fulton, left evidences of their intimacy 
there in two memorial trees, planted by tliem, which to-day lift 
their hoary heads high above the mansion. The one on the west, 
in front of the house, was set out by Paine, and the one toward 
the east by Robert Fulton. It was at Kalorama that Mr. Barlow 
finished his epic poem, the " Columbiad." It was a national 
patriotic epic, great in expectations, but not a great poem. In 
execution of binding, engravings, etc., it was the best specimen of 
book-making ever produced by the American press ; but the 
" Columbiad," for years, has not been classed with the books that 
are read. 

It is well known that in the year 181 1 America's relations with 
France and England were of the gravest cliaracter. Madison and 
his advisers, at last resolved to make one more effort at negotia- 
tion, and it was clearly to be seen that the failure, or success of 
the plan would depend entirely upon the man chosen to carry it 
out. As Napoleon was France, he alone was the man to be 



CALVERT, KALORAMA, AND CARROLL ROW. 249 

influenced. In casting about, Madison and his Cabinet chose Mr. 
Barlow as the man eminently fitted for the embassadorship. Mr. 
Barlow well understood the difficulties in the way of successfully 
carrying out such a mission, and it took a great deal of persuasion 
to induce him to accept. He had reached an age when home and 
home comforts were more to him than all the allurements of high 
position, he was also deeply engrossed in literary pursuits; but, 
at last, for his country's good, he accepted. Kalorama was 
leased, and he hoped to come back to it and enjoy the fruits of its 
well-earned comforts. His wife and nephew, Thomas Barlow, 
and Miss Clara Baldwin, Mrs. Barlow's half-sister, accompanied 
them. They arrived in France in September. It was not an 
opportune time for his arrival; Napoleon had been foiled by 
Russia in his designs upon Germany, and with an army of a mil- 
lion men was making preparations for the invasion of Russia. 
The business which might have been brought to a conclusion in a 
few days, took years. Napoleon requested Mr. Barlow to meet 
him at Wilna. A year of anxious and wearisome labor had 
already been spent upon the treaty thus far. He reached Wilna 
in time to learn of Napoleon's defeat, and of the evacuation of 
Moscow. After waiting six days, hoping Napoleon would fall 
back to Wilna, he was at length heard from. The army was in 
disgraceful flight. Napoleon had abandoned it, and in disguise, 
was hastening to Paris. It was very evident the treaty was lost. 
The party immediately left by way of Cracow, Vienna and 
Munich for Paris. 

Mr. Barlow was taken violently ill on the road and was com- 
pelled to stop at Zamowitch. Everthing was done for his com- 
fort, but it was too late ; his malady developed into pneumonia, 
and he survived but a few days. His nephew had his body 
embalmed with the hope of having it transported to America. 
But the Cossacks were ravaging the country with fire and sword ; 
none were exempt. It was impossible to bring his body away, 
and it was with danger and difficulty that Thomas Barlow escaped. 
His biographer says : "Late in the autumn of 1813 Mrs. Barlow 
and her sister, accompanied by Thomas Barlow and the young 
French lady he had married, returned to America and took up 
their residence at Kalorama. Here, in quiet and seclusion, the 



250 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

bereaved lady spent the remaining years of her eventful life, and 
died in 1818, greatly revered for her amiable character and deeds 
of charity." The old seat of Kalorama still remains intact, 
although the capital city, in its onward march, is fast approaching 
its gates. In the southwest corner of the grounds, on the bank 
of a little rivulet, shaded by fine old forest trees, stands the brick 
tomb in ruinous decay, in which her remains, with those of the 
Senator and the Judge, her brothers and others of the family 
repose. 

Mr. Barlow had a niece who married an army officer, whose 
moral status was not sufficient to even secure his name for pos- 
terity. While on the frontier his wife was carried off by the 
Indians. He did not deem it important to go in pursuit of her, 
but Lieutenant Bomford organized a force and prosecuted the 
search. He found her, and after she had procured a divorce 
from her husband, married her. Mr. Barlow, while on a mission 
to Algiers drew up his will, bequeathing everything he owned to 
his wife, to dispose of between the relatives on both sides. Kalo- 
rama was bequeathed to Mrs. Bomford, who lived there many 
years. Previous to this. Commodore Decatur, after he was 
appointed Navy commissioner, made his residence at Kalorama. 
In 1820, after the duel of Decatur and Barron, the remains of the 
Commodore were first deposited in the family vault at Kalorama 
by invitation of Colonel Bomford. This old vault is visible on 
the crest of the hill near the gate of the grounds, but afterwards 
Decatur's remains were removed to Philadelphia. In after years 
Mrs. Decatur lived again at Kalorama and made it famous for the 
elegant entertainments given there. She survived her husband 
about forty years, and died in Georgetown in i860. 

Mr. Barlow loved his country and gave his life for her good. 
His verse first gave American poetry a standing abroad ; and his 
prose writing contributed largely to the triumph of Republicanism 
in 1800. The steamboat had him for a godfather and, it is very 
probable, could he have carried out his scheme of a national uni- 
versity, that art, science and literature would stand on a different 
footing from that occupied by them to-day. But no historian has 
touched upon, or recognized the talent and public services of 
Joel Barlow. He was a sturdy Republican, with a strong hatred 



CAL VERT, KALORAMA, AND CARROLL ROW. 2$ I 

for everything that would degrade man. His interest in the 
industrial progress of his country was unbounded. In private 
life he was highly esteemed ; in his family he was always the lov- 
ing, kind and thoughtful husband. But his country accepted his 
services and left his bones to moulder unmarked on the bleak 
Polish wastes where he fell, and took no action toward perpetu- 
ating his memory. Wifely love supplied the omission and erected 
a monument over his grave. 

During the war, beautiful Kalorama was used as a small-pox 
hospital. This historic home is now owned by a family by the 
name of Lovett, and the mansion has been much improved. The 
vicissitudes of time have wrought many changes in this old home, 
and now we hear it is for sale. I suppose some fine morning we 
shall look for Kalorama and find it not. Civilization makes rapid 
strides. In place of undulating hills and dales, grateful forest 
shade and winding drives, we shall find the woodman's axe has 
felled the trees, the pick and shovel have levelled the hills, the 
shaded driveway that calls to memory the names of heroes and 
men famous in our country's history who have passed under those 
historic trees, will have to give way to broad avenues and archi- 
tectural monstrosities which are an abomination to the sight and 
to the sense ; and this is — civilization. Will there come a time in 
this country when the very stones of these old buildings will be 
held sacred because other hands laid them ; when men will say, 
" Touch not ; our fathers built this " ; when the glory of a build- 
ing will be its age, and a deep sense of reverence and sympathy 
and mysterious adoration will possess us ; because the walls have 
long been washed by the passing waves of humanity ? 

******* 

Among the earlier houses erected in the district was the row 
built on the north side of Pennsylvania Avenue, between Nine- 
teenth and Twentieth Streets, known as the " Seven Buildings." 

The house on the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and Nine- 
teenth Street was occupied by Elbridge Gerry, while he was Vice- 
President and James Monroe President. He was elected in 1812, 
and died suddenly, in the second year of his term. 

The venerable Mrs. Townsend, who died in Boston some years 
ago, at the age of ninety-two, was his daughter and the mother of 



252 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON: 

General E. D, Townsend, the late able and energetic Adjutant- 
General of the army. 

After the White House was destroyed by the British, this was 
the house into which President and Mrs. Monroe moved, after 
leaving the " Octagon House." They remained until the White 
House was rebuilt. It had also been used, in the mterim, for the 
United States Treasury. Mr. Fry, the Chief Clerk of the Pay- 
master-General's office, occupied the house next door. John 
Quincy Adams and Mr. Fry had married the daughters of Gover- 
nor Thomas Johnson, of Maryland. 

Governor Thomas Johnson was born in Calvert County, Mary- 
land. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress from that 
State, but resigned from that body for the purpose of raising 
troops, of which he was to take command, to go to the rescue of 
his warm friend, General George Washington. 

It was he who proposed the name of Washington as Com- 
mander-in-chief of the army. He was Maryland's first Repub- 
lican governor and was also one of the commissioners for laying 
out the city of Washington. 

It is said that John Adams, second President of the United 
States, was once asked how it was that so many Southern men 
were in the war. He replied : " If it had not been for such men 
as Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Chase and 
Thomas Johnson, there would never have been any Revolution," 
— in other words, there would have been no United States. 

After Mr. Fry removed from this house, it was purchased by 
Brook Mackall, Esq. His wife was Miss Gunnell, an aunt of the 
accomplished and genial medical director, F. M. Gunnell, of the 
United States Navy. 

The third and fourth houses were owned by Joseph Forrest. 
He married a Miss Dulaney, of Shooter's Hill, near Alexandria. 
He occupied one of the houses and his brother-in-law, Commo- 
modore Bladen Dulaney, of the Navy, the other. After his death, 
in the distribution of the estate, these houses came into the hands 
of the late Commodore French Forrest, who lived in tlie third 
house from the corner, until about three years before the war 
broke out. He then removed to his country seat, " Claremont." 

Commodore Forrest, at the breaking out of the war, resigned 



CALVERT, KALORAMA, AND CARROLL ROW. 253 

his commission in the navy of the United States, which he had 
held fifty-two years. He was a gallant officer in the war of 1812. 
He was in the naval engagement with Commodore Perry on Lake 
Erie, and also fought valiantly in the Mexican war. When Vir- 
ginia seceded, he joined her fortunes and was made an Admiral in 
the Southern Confederacy. At the close of the war he returned 
to the District, to find his property confiscated by the Govern- 
ment. It was purchased by Hon. Alfred Ely, formerly a member 
of Congress from New York, who was captured and carried to 
Richmond, where he remained prisoner until he was exchanged, 
by special arrangement, for the Hon. Charles Faulkner, our 
former minister to France, who had been arrested in New York 
upon his arrival from Europe, for being a rebel. 

The commodore died in Georgetown, in 1866. After his death 
his son. Rev. Douglas Forrest, D, D., brought action in the 
United States Court for the possession of the property, which he 
recovered after a long and tedious suit. 

In 1834 the Vice-President, Martin Van Buren, the Charge 
d'Afifaires of the Netherlands and the First Auditor of the Treas- 
ury, lived in the " Seven Buildings." The Secretary of War, at 
the same time, lived directly opposite. 

These are some of the past glories of the " Seven Buildings," 
built in the morning of the city's growth, when the West End was 
a swamp, when horses were stalled on Pennsylvania Avenue and 
pedestrians sank in the " slough of despond." In those days 
Washington was a provincial town ; and yet, heroic men and 
women walked its streets and gathered around the home fireside, 
whose lives are the history of the city and nation as well. 
******* 

Many historic houses have been razed to the ground to make 
room for the new National Library building east of the Capitol. 

Among these was a row of houses on First Street, east, extend- 
ing southward from B Street north, and facing the Capitol, called 
Dufif Green Row. Many years ago, during the war, it was known 
as Carroll Prison. After the war the houses were remodelled and 
were known as the Carroll Row, taking the name from Daniel 
Carroll, to whom the property originally belonged. 

This row of five houses was originally a hotel. It was erected 



254 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON: 

early during the present century and was then called Nick 
Queen's Hotel, all except one house at the corner, in which lived 
for many years Dr. James Ewell. It was afterward occupied by 
Duff Green as a printing establishment. Ex-Senator Simon 
Cameron, when a young man, worked there as a printer, and from 
there was issued the United States Telegraph. This must not be 
mistaken for the Indian Queen Hotel that was kept by Jesse 
Brown on Pennsylvania Avenue, where the Metropolitan now 
stands. There was a day when Queen's Hotel was one of the 
finest in the city. At that time Capitol Hill was the fashionable 
part of Washington ; most of the members lived there. Those 
who did not, found quarters in Georgetown. 

The aristocratic West End was a swamp, where frogs held their 
matinees and owls kept nightly vigils. 

During the war of 1812, when the capital was burned by the 
British, they brought their wounded soldiers from Bladensburg 
and occupied the house of Dr. Ewell as a hospital, Dr, Ewell and 
the British surgeons attending the wounded. 

Another house of historic interest, which has vanished in the 
march of improvements, is that of the old artist, Guiseppe Fran- 
zoni, which stood on Pennsylvania Avenue, east, and came into 
the Library Square. This house was unpretending in size and 
architectural beauty, but as the home of Franzoni, there circles 
around it an interest which many more imposing structures do not 
possess. 

When the seat of government was removed from Philadelphia 
to Washington, it was desirable that the new Capitol should be 
adorned with works of art. This new child of the world had no 
artists of her own, and Congress sent to Italy for the best sculptor 
there known, to come to this country and undertake the work. 
Franzoni was considered equal to the great Canova, and was then 
employed in the palace of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, whose 
near relative he was. 

It took long and earnest persuasion to get his consent to come 
to America ; but with the promise of a large salary, the expenses 
of himself and family paid, no matter how large, whenever he 
wished to return to his native land, he consented to accept the 
proposition. He arrived in this country in the year 1806 or 1807, 



CALVERT, KALORAMA, AND CARROLL ROW. 255 

accompanied by his wife, a beautiful Italian girl, only fifteen years 
old. 

Imagine the transition from beautiful Florence, with its balmy 
air and cloudless skies ; from the shadows of the grand old duomo 
St. Michael and Donnetallois, St. Guigo, which his master said 
needed only speech ; from an atmosphere in which was reared a 
Michael Angelo, a Raphael, a Leonardo da Vinci, or a Ghiberti — 
we sa}', imagine the change to this city, which was nearly a wil- 
derness; the houses few and scattering, not one between the 
"Queen's Hotel," on Pennsylvania Avenue, and the Capitol, 
muddy streets, no sidewalks, but — we had an artist. 

Mr. Franzoni soon tired of walking through such a wilder- 
ness. Silk stockings and knee breeches were not in keep- 
ing with a tramp like this to the Capitol ; therefore he made 
a purchase of the house mentioned, the best to be had at that 
time. 

The President, Thomas Jefferson, was a warm friend of Fran- 
zoni, and the sculptor was his regular Sunday guest at dinner. 

Mr. Franzoni lived only ten years after coming to this country. 
The severity of the climate was too great. He never saw again 
his beautiful home, Florence. He died leaving a widow and six 
children. The children were all born in this country, and after 
their father's death, had no desire to return to Italy. 

When the Capitol was burned by the British, in 18 14, all of the 
beautiful works executed by his hand were destroyed. 

After Guiseppe's death, effort was made again to secure another 
Italian sculptor. The Government was successful in getting 
Carlos Franzoni and his friend, Jardella, to come to this country. 
Jardella married the widow of Guiseppe. They came here in 
1816. Carlos lived only four years and was but thirty-three when 
he died. He has left some examples of true art that surpass any- 
thing in the possession of the Government. One of these is the 
beautiful clock over the entrance to the old House of Representa- 
tives, now Statuary Hall. 

It represents History riding on the car of Time, making a record 
as she goes. The dial of the clock is the wheel of the car. This 
fine work of art has received the admiration of Webster, Clay, 
Preston, and all the brilliant minds that have adorned this nation. 



256 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

This, like true history, is entering upon her record the names of 
great men as she passes in her car of time. 

John Quincy Adams, just before his sudden death, in this hall, 
wrote his name to a poetical address to this muse of history, com- 
mencing : 

" Come down, thou marble figure, upon the floor, 
And take down the name of each candidate for fame." 

Credit has been given to Guiseppe Franzoni for this and the 
only specimen of his work remaining after the fire, but he died 
before any of his children were ten years old, and his daughter, 
Lavinia, now Mrs. Simms, then a young lady, sat as a model for 
her uncle, for the face and arm in this figure ; besides the name 
of Carlos appears on the clock. 

Carlos built him a house on Four-and-a-half Street, opposite the 
Presbyterian Church. Over the door and windows, until a few 
years ago, could be seen mythological figures of Mercury, Bac- 
chus, and others which he executed at his leisure. 

He also imported two Carrara marble mantels from Italy for 
his house, but Commodore Blasdon persuaded him to sell them to 
the Government for the Senate Chamber of the Capitol, and they 
are still in the Supreme Court room. 

Dr. Franzoni has a magnificent portrait of his grandfather, 
Carlos Franzoni, painted by the great Bonani. The family have 
been offered a fabulous price for it by the New York Historical 
Society. 

In the old Supreme Court room, near the Law Library, is a bas- 
relief, a part of which is from the same master hand, the Goddess 
of Justice holding the scales. On the left is a youth. Fame, bear- 
ing in his hand a scroll upon which is inscribed the Constitution. 
The inferiority of this figure in comparison with the figure of 
Justice, at once sets one to studying the cause of the discrepancy 
in the workmanship. We are informed by his grandson, now liv- 
ing, that the Franzoni heirs never came into possession of any of 
the drawings, or models left at the death of Carlos. One solution 
of the difficulty may be that an inferior artist was put on the 
work to finish the bas-relief. It is certainly a libel on the name 
of Franzoni to attribute the whole work to him. 



CALVERT, KALORAMA, AND CARROLL ROW. 257 

There is yet another bit of work from the great master's hand 
in the national architecture found in the pillars at the foot of 
the stairway of the old Senate Chamber, now used by the 
Supreme Court. 

These were executed by Franzoni from a suggestion of Thomas 
Jefferson that some design should be made that would be entirely 
American. The columns of cornstalks, the capitals of the full corn 
in the ear were the result. No Corinthian or Doric columns are 
more exquisitely beautiful. 

What use was made of the drawings and models left, only the 
architect of the Capitol knows. 

=»t^ * * * # * * 

When General Cockburn made his raid upon Washington, 
August 4, 1814, only two wings of the Capitol were finished. 
Here Congress had held its sessions since February 27, 1801. 

It may not be generally known that the flight of Mahomet, 
John Gilpin and Bladensburg all occurred August 24th. It is a 
well-known fact that after the battle of Bladensburg, Congress 
was without a home ! 

The wings of the Capitol, the President's mansion, a few public 
buildings scattered here and there, a score or so of private dwell- 
ings stranded among the marshes, spreading from Greenleaf's 
Point to Georgetown, over several miles and along the river 
banks, constituted the main attractions of the infant metropolis 
that drew the British fire-brand. 

After the destruction of both houses of Congress, William 
Law, Daniel Carroll and others began the building of a new edi- 
fice for the temporary accommodation of Congress, which was 
completed December 4, 18 15. 

The building cost $30,000, $5,000 of which had been expended 
on furniture. Congress paid the builders $5,000 in money and a 
rental of $1,650 per annum, with cost of insurance. 

The Niks Register says : 

" The spot where this large, commodious building was erected, 
was a garden on the fourth of July last. The bricks of which it 
is built were clay, and the timber used in its construction was 
growing in the woods that day." 
17 



2 58 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON: 

Mrs. Seaton, in a letter to he-r mother, written November, 1815, 
says : 

" About fifty members have arrived and marked their seats in 
the new building on Capitol Hill, erected by Law, Carroll and 
others, who wished to advance the price of their property." 

In was in front of this building James Monroe was inaugurated 
President, March 4, 1817, with brilliant ceremonies. 

After the Capitol was in condition to receive Congress, this 
house emerged into a fashionable boarding-house. It was in 
this house that John C. Calhoun died, while representing South 
Carolina as a senator. Here the sculptor, Luigi Persico, occupied 
a room for a studio. Here, in plaster, was the group which now 
occupies a place in the main entrance to the Rotunda, that of 
Columbus holding in his hand the new world. Some wag has 
described Columbus in this piece as playing ten-pins with George 
Washington, whose seated statue occupies a place in the ground 
in front. 

Annie Royal, the great blackmailer, occupied rooms at one 
time here as her publishing house. 

Here Wirz and Belle Boyd were incarcerated, and from this 
house Wirz entered the yard where the scaffold was erected upon 
which he was hanged, for his treatment of Union prisoners of war 
at Andersonville. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

HOMES OF LITERARY WOMEN — LITERARY CLUBS. 

Capitol Hill — Its Literary Women — Women Correspondents — The Home of 
Mary Clemmer — The Fruit of her Pen — A gifted Woman — Began writing 
when young — Correspondent of ^h^ NewYork Independent — A racy Writer 
— Her descriptive Powers — A Poet by Nature — Her Death — Sleeps in 
Rock Creek Cemetery — Grace Greenwood — Where she lived — A Wanderer 
in Foreign Lands — Returns to New York — Maple Square — Home of 
"Olivia" — Farther back than Memory Runneth — Queen Anne House — 
In the middle of a Square — Once owned by Senator Clayton — Built 
the Music-Room — Special Correspondent of Forney's Press — Vigorous, 
trenchant Letters — Could name Her Salary — For a Woman's University 
— An Alma Mater for Women — Prospect Cottage — Home of Mrs. South- 
worth — A Sunday's Visit — A checkered Life — Rich in womanly Instincts 
— Zealous Patriot — A glimpse of Arlington — A Blot on fair old Virginia 
— Washington Society — Illuminated not by Reflection — Literary Societies 
— Educational Bureau — Congressional Library — Ainsworth R. Spofford — 
The Women's National Press Association — The Journalists' Guild — 
Wanted an Authors' Guild — Frances Hodgson Burnett— Her Beautiful 
Home. 

Capitol Hill, since the rough career of Annie Royal, has not 
been without its representative literary women. Annie Royal's 
newspapers, The Washington Fatd Fry, and the Huntress, were 
badly printed and the matter badly written, and were noted for 
vile vituperation and for more of bitterness than wit. 

That the press is surely and permanently improving needs no 
better evidence than the difference between the women writers of 
to-day and this notorious person. Women correspondents are 
honored and welcomed everywhere. Energy and perseverance 
are making journalism and correspondence a permanent avocation 
for the sisterhood. 

Almost beside the Capitol door was the home of Mary Clem- 
mer, the gifted correspondent and poetess. With the earnings of 

259 



26o HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

her pen she purchased this house, which was for many years a 
literary and social centre. This is not the place for any extended 
biography, but in grateful memory of a life consecrated to con- 
scientious and earnest work, a life of brave purpose and high 
endeavor, fitly representative of American womanhood in its 
truest, highest, loftiest sense, we accord to Mary Clemmer a niche 
in our historic memories of Washington. 

This accomplished woman when very young began writing for 
the newspapers, her first effusions appearing in the Springfield 
Republican. She afterwards became a correspondent for the 
New York Indepe?ident, to which journal, under the title of " A 
Woman's Letter from Washington," she regularly contributed for 
many years. 

Through these letters she became best known to the literary 
world. Her first letter to the Jndepefidefif was written March, 
1866. She soon found that she was the possessor of a national 
reputation as a racy writer on political events and concerning 
people prominent in public affairs in Washington. 

The vivid yet sympathetic tone in which she photographed not- 
able personages connected with the brilliant social and personal 
life of the city made her sure of her audience. It was her talent 
for describing personal appearance, her skill in picturing faces 
and delineating soul power that gave these letters a special value 
to many, who came to look upon them for correct impressions of 
men at the head of national affairs at the capital. 

She was a poet by nature ; she had trodden the wine press of 
life, meeting its disappointments and its sorrows with a brave 
courage ; but her soul must needs sing as the crushed flower sends 
forth perfume, and so in every line we find a graceful touch from 
an overflowing human nature. 

August 18, 1884, she breathed her last. If reconciled the 
world must be that the future should unfold its scroll to one so 
soon, thankful must it also be that success was her crown and 
peace of heart her inheritance, ere the shadows of the night fell 
upon her for the last time and her spirit floated over into the 
golden sunset. 

It is not our purpose to lay bare the sorrows and the hardships 
entailed upon her, or to indicate who or what was responsible 



HOMES OF LITERARY WOMEN— LITERARY CLUBS. 26 1 

for that which she suffered or that which she missed ; we can 
only note that she took up the heavy burdens which Fate had 
decreed should be hers to bear, and with noble courage and 
womanly power grew strong through suffering, and happiness at 
length was hers. Her story, here vaguely recorded, may be a 
message of encouragement and a stimulus to other weary and 
heavy-laden human hearts. Those who have a desire to know the 
details of her life may be referred to the book entitled, " An 
American Woman's Life and Work," by "one to whom she was 
dearest friend and sweetest comrade," Edmund Hudson. She 
sleeps in Rock Creek Cemetery. A beloved friend wrote of 
her : " The grass is growing on Mary Clemmer's grave ; but all 
the way to it and beyond, so far as human love can reach, is 
covered with flowers." What Mrs. Browning wrote of Cowper's 
grave, could stand written of Mary Clemmer Hudson's : 

" It is a place where poets crowned may feel the hearts decaying. 
It is a place where happy saints may weep amid their praying; 
Yet let the grief and humbleness, as low as silence languish ; 
Earth surely now may give her calm to whom she gave her anguish." 

But a few steps from the old Capitol Prison, which was at one 
time used as the publishing house of Annie Royal, across the 
beautiful park, you come to the house on New Jersey Avenue 
in which Grace Greenwood (Mrs. Lippincott) lived. Her 
facile pen has won for her the honored crown of woman's ad- 
miration. 

Lady Wilde has said : " How often a great genius has 
given a soul to a locality." We cannot say that here Grace 
Greenwood found aught that was special or personal in her 
eyrie that overlooked the fair city, but we do know that in 
her inmost heart she found the universality of human sister- 
hood. 

Since then she has been a wanderer. By her letters we 
trace her over America, England and the continent. Through 
English meadows, in Italian gardens, wintering on the con- 
tinent, or summering in old England, drinking inspiration from 
the Old World fountains ; and yet no loadstone has been strong 
enough to attract and hold her from her motherland, and to- 



262 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

day, busy, bustling, cosmopolitan New York is the home of 
the editor of " Little Pilgrim," herself no longer a pilgrim 
and a stranger in foreign lands, but surrounded by friends whose 
memories reach back into the shadowy past, to the ardent 
productive intellectual days that introduced her to an appreciative 
audience. 

******* 

A little farther to the east, between Sixth and Fifth Streets, 
you come to " Maple Square," the home of Emily Edson Briggs 
(" Olivia "). 

Farther back than memory runneth, the house, with massive 
foundation, gable ends, Queen Anne architecture, solid masonry 
of brick brought from England, was built, and has stood the shock 
of wind and rain, summer's heat and winter's frost. Situated in 
the middle of the square, shaded by grand old forest trees, vine 
clad and venerable, with meadow lawns, fruit trees, shrubbery and 
flowers, what a history its closed pages could give of the century 
gone ! We know the wounded and dying after the battle of 
Bladensburg were cared for under its roof. It has been the 
silent witness of every administration, its entree and its exit. It 
has been the home of foreign ministers, members of Congress 
and gentlemen of leisure. 

Mr. Clayton, while a member of the Senate, owned the place 
and made extensive improvements. He built the right wing, 
which is a music-room of imposing dimensions. In 187 1 it came 
into the possession of Mrs. Briggs, who at the time was special 
correspondent of Forney's Philadelphia Press. Here many of 
her trenchant, spicy, vigorous letters were written. During the 
war the name of Olivia became a power that gave her precedence 
over many male correspondents ; so much so that she could name 
her own salary to the newspaper editor. 

She has decided to leave this estate to a woman's university, 
for which her will has long been made, provided the city or 
Government will endow it with sufficient funds to carry it suc- 
cessfully on. 

Some day Capitol Hill, which has had the prestige of an 
environment of literary women, may develop the alma mater for 
women which will give them the opportunity that they now seek 



HOMES OF LITERARY WOMEN— LITERARY CLUBS. 263 

for in vain at the doors of universities, and to Emily Edson Briggs 
shall belong the honor. 

* * * * # * * 

In Georgetown lives the noted novelist, Mrs. E. D. E. N. 
Southworth. At the head of Prospect Avenue stands a quaint 
little cottage of many gables, vine clad and bright with flowers. 
Mrs. Southworth is not one of our greatest novelists, and yet, 
perhaps, no writer has been more widely read. We knocked at 
the cottage door one Sunday afternoon and were ushered into the 
presence of a pleasant-faced woman ; her hair was dark brown 
tinged with gray, brushed back, revealing a high and broad fore- 
head. Her eyes were blue, full of tenderness, and when she 
talked her whole face seemed illuminated. White, soft lace 
encircled her neck and bosom. And as we listened to her delight- 
ful and fluent conversation, she revealed a character rich in 
womanly traits. 

Her life has been a checkered one ; but the maternal instinct 
and her own self-respect relumed the spark of genius and she has 
gone on through the years untiring, until sixty odd novels have 
emanated from her pen and brain. 

She is quite seventy years old and now takes down the imagi- 
nations of her brain by means of a typewriter. She says when 
she seats herself she does not want to be disturbed, for these con- 
ceptions float in upon the mind full-fledged in story, plot and 
language, and if the spell is broken before the waif is chained, 
the conditions and their settings never can be recalled. She has 
accumulated quite a fortune by her writings, but she says the 
fabulous salaries journalists give her the credit of receiving have 
no foundation in fact. When the Civil war broke out she nailed 
the stars and stripes over her front gate, saying : "Whoever 
comes to my door must pass under that." With patriotic zeal 
she nursed the sick and wounded in camp and hospital, until she 
herself became a victim to the small-pox. With true philosophy 
she said : " I cannot prevent the soldiers from taking the 
disease, but I can suffer with them ; there is some comfort in 
that." 

As we stood upon the veranda of this ideal home and glanced 
along the Virginia hills, memory took us back to the far-away past 



264 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

which consecrated and made them classic ground. We thought 
of the brave and loyal men who laid down their lives, sleeping on 
the green hills over there, to bequeath to the present all that the 
sacrifice, suffering and struggle of the past achieved. 

Washington society does not all revolve around the Capitol, nor 
does it all get its illumination by reflection. From a city of prim- 
itive insignificance in the beginning of the century, Washington 
has become not only the political capital of the Union, but the 
scientific and literary centre. 

It has its Biological, Anthropological and Philosophical 
societies devoted to general scientific investigation. At the 
Cosmos Club, whose headquarters are in the house, so long the 
home of Mrs. Madison, these scientists meet and exchange the 
better thoughts of their natures and develop the social talents 
also. 

The literati meet and mingle among the different social clubs. 
The Literary Society finds doors open to receive them ; and men 
and women of culture and education contribute to the evening's 
entertainment. 

The Unity Club is founded on nearly the same plan and is a 
counterpart of the other ; it has among its members many names 
familiar to the literary world. 

There is the Travel Club, which is not a movable feast ; for 
many years the parlors of the Strathmore Arms have been the 
home of this club. As its name indicates, the work is given 
entirely to travel in the different countries throughout the world. 
With their guide, courier and travelling correspondents they ferret 
out the places of interest, and then some clever member of the 
club tells what he knows about it. The geography, history, 
science, fine arts and practical arts of other nations become 
familiar as household words to the members. Travellers of note, 
foreign ministers, men of letters, and women of brains have 
helped to furnish this intellectual feast these many years. 

The Historical Society, which meets in the parlors of Hon. 
Horatio King, has a membership composed of women who give 
their undivided interest to history. 

There is the Educational Bureau, the Observatory, with its 
magnificent instruments for astronomical purposes, the Coast and 



HOMES OF LITERARY WOMEN— LITERARY CLUBS. 265 

Geodetic Survey, and the several libraries, chief among them the 
Congressional, where, if there is anything you do not know, ask 
Mr. Ainsworth R. Spofford, the librarian. If there ever was a 
man born to fill a certain place Mr. Spofford is that man. Mr. 
Spofford is of slight figure, has a classic head, smooth, straight 
hair silvered according to his days, of quick movement and ner- 
vous temperament that always makes one feel that he must be 
brief, if not eloquent in his inquiries ; for one would never pre- 
sume to touch upon anything but business in his presence in 
the library. But if the questions are pertinent, one always retires 
from his presence satisfied. In the social circle he is a charming 
gentleman, with always time enough, when it is his own, to hear 
and be heard, and the literary clubs of the city all feel that it is a 
red-letter night when Mr. Spofford entertains them out of his 
storehouse of knowledge. 

The Classical Society has an abiding place in the parlors of 
Miss Caroline E. Ransom, the artist. From time to time she 
gathers the intelligent and cultured of the city for some intellect- 
ual treat. James A. Garfield and Judge Shellabarger have been 
the respective presidents. 

The Woman's National Press Association is another of the 
clubs that brings together the literary women of the city. It has 
the honor of being the first of the kind organized in the country, 
and has among its members women from almost every State in the 
Union. Mrs. Emily Edson Briggs, known as " Olivia " in the 
journalistic world, was its first president; Mrs. Lincoln, "Bessie 
Beach," is now the presiding officer. It embraces among its 
members journalists, magazine writers and authors. Mr. Staples, 
of Willard's hotel, has extended the courtesy of his house to the 
club for several years, and there the regular meetings, business 
and social, are held. 

Washington, like all other cities, has a Journalists' Guild, and its 
masculine pens, flowing with sparkling repartee and ready wit, 
have been supplemented by those of the women correspondents, 
whose letters are filled with interesting gossip, and are garnished 
with realistic pictures of society, and clever pen-pictures of public 
men and women. Correspondence and even editorship has risen 
to a profession among women, and with the exception of a small 



266 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON: 

minority who do not find the circulation of scandals and misstate- 
ments in any sense profitable, they are generously rewarded. 

Women, as a rule, write from a conscientious love of their work, 
and they become popular in proportion as their style differs from 
the rough rhetoric of their brother bohemians. Their energy and 
perseverance is making the profession a permanent avocation for 
women, and as the press grows in influence, more and more will it 
require the wit, grace and sparkle that emanate from intellectual 
womanhood. 

And we know of no city so fully ripe for an authors' guild. 
Who among the women writers of to-day is more popular than 
Frances Hodgson Burnett, the author of " That Lass o' Lowrie's," 
and the sweetest of all children's stories, " Little Lord Faunt- 
leroy." Mrs. Burnett was born in Manchester, England, and 
educated in her native city ; and there it was that she be- 
came familiar with the Lancashire dialect and character which 
she has so bewitchingly used in her Lass o' Lowrie's," But it 
was after she had become a child of America, after " That Lass o' 
Lowrie's," after " Haworths," after " Through One Administra- 
tion," after " Esmeralda," after she was a wife, after she was the 
mother of two beautiful boys, that motherhood in all its glorious 
beatitudes received its jewelled setting in the inspired pages of 
" Little Lord Fauntleroy." 

In her beautiful home, 1770 Massachusetts Avenue, that is as 
much a representative of her brain as are her books, you can 
form some estimate of what a woman can do in the literary world. 
"This home," says Olive Logan, whose friendship for the fair 
author takes her at times into the holy of holies, " even as Litch- 
field House was bought by Miss Braddon out of the proceeds of 
' Lady Audley's Secret,' so is Mrs, Burnett's residence due to 
'Fauntleroy,' A substantial tribute indeed from the manly little 
Lord to ' Dearest,' " 

Passing from the front drawing-room to the back drawing-room, 
from dining-room to tapestry-hung hall, up the quaint, winding 
stairs to the various sitting-rooms, bedrooms and work-rooms on 
the upper floors, one is perforce required to draw heavily on the 
stock of epithets of admiration ; for each of these apartments 
seems to outvie the other in freshness, daintiness and beauty. All 



HOMES OF LITERARY WOMEN— LITERARY CLUBS. 26/ 

is SO new that the rose silk bedroom (Dearest's own) is fresh 
as the flower itself when first it spreads its petals on the ambient 
air ; the adjoining study, wherein the author has already written a 
play, is richly contrasting in color, being a harmonious feeling in 
shaded browns and golden yellows awakened by admiring con- 
templation of the nasturtium. 

Hanging here, handsomely framed, is the illuminated address of 
thanks of English authors for the resolution taken by Mrs. Bur- 
nett and sustained by her at the law's point, concerning the right of 
an author to dramatize his own story, an injustice against which 
Charles Dickens protested in vain ; against which Ouida has 
hurled some of her most vigorous language ; from which hundreds 
of authors have silently suffered and which was righted for all 
time by the energetic action of Frances Hodgson Burnett. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

HOMES OF F. T. FRELINGHUYSEN, LEVI P. MORTON AND SALMON P. 

CHASE. 

The Frelinghuysen House — Home of four Cabinet Officers — Filled with Asso- 
ciations — Arthur's Administration — Royal Entertainments — A Page turned 
in History — William C. Whitney — Mrs. Whitney a charming Hostess — 
Brilliant Receptions — A Woman of generous Impulses — Generous to the 
Poor — One Administration goes out — Another comes in — John Wana- 
maker — A Man of Letters — The old Mansion in good Hands — The Mor- 
ton House — Better known as the Hooper House — Walls tell no Tales — 
President Andrew Johnson a Guest — A political Chrysalis here formed — 
Johnson's Policy watched — An attractive Woman — An incongruous Mar- 
riage — Charles Sumner's Marriage to Mrs. Hooper — Another Guest — J. 
Lothrop Motley — The English Mission — A Wrong Somewhere — General 
Grant's Dislike — Estrangement of Grant and Sumner — Mr. Motley's sud- 
den Recall — The newly-elected Vice-President purchased this House when 
in Congress — James A. Garfield breakfasts with Mr. Morton — Inaugurated 
President next Day — A curious Dispute — A Secret with Roscoe Conkling — 
Senator Hale in this House — Where Mr. Morton began Life — Married 
Lucy Kimball — Memorial Gift — The present Mrs. Morton — Home of 
Salmon P. Chase — Beautiful Kate Chase — An unfortunate Marriage — Her 
lofty Position — Self-exiled — Beautiful Edgewood — Valley of Suffering — 
The Remains of the Chief-Justice removed to Ohio — An impressive Pic- 
ture — Sad Reflections — The Home lives only in Memory. 

Among the houses of Washington that have associations of 
national interest attached to them is the home of the Frelinghuy- 
sens, 1 73 1 I Street. 

Many noted men and celebrated women have met under this 
roof. Four Cabinet officers have here made homes, two Secre- 
taries of State, Evarts and Frelinghuysen, one Secretary of the 
Navy, Mr. Whitney, and now the Postmaster-General, John Wan- 
amaker. 

Manifold associations cluster around this home which carry 

268 



HOMES OF FREUNGHUYSEN, MORTON, AND CHASE. 26g 

US back to the Arthur administration, with a social atmosphere 
refined and elegant. Mr. Frelinghuysen, as Secretary of State, was 
very near the President, which brought the two famiHes into inti- 
mate relations. 

Of Mr. Arthur's cabinet none entertained more royally than 
the Frelinghuysens. When another page of history was turned 
and the Frelinghuysens sought the seclusion of their New 
Jersey home, this elegant old home lost none of its social 
atmosphere. Its parlors never witnessed more brilliant social 
gatherings, or gayer assemblies, than when William C. Whitney, 
Secretary of the Navy, and his estimable wife were host and 
hostess. 

The elegant ball-room was added while they were in possession. 
This is a room fifty by thirty feet in width, with a raised platform 
for the orchestra. At one end is a large fireplace finished in 
Dutch tiles, panels and antique settles. The room is finished in 
hardwood. Turkish rugs cover the floor, choice paintings hang 
on the walls. 

The receptions given at the Whitney home far exceeded in 
brilliancy and generous outlay any others given by the Cabinet. 
There were flowers everywhere, banks of roses, violets in pro- 
fusion, ferns and smilax, japonicas and lilies which loaded the 
air with delicate perfume. Champagne and terrapin, salads and 
ices drew the multitude. 

Mrs. Whitney is a woman of generous impulses, charitable to 
the poor and thoughtful of the suffering. She had a quiet way 
of dispensing her charities, and only those who were the bene- 
ficiaries of her hand knew of the channels it reached. 

It is not the social world alone that misses the Whitne3^s from 
this home, but another class whose love and friendship may 
farther reach and longer live, for the golden thread that binds 
them is charity. 

Another page is added to history. One administration goes out 
and another comes in, and with it comes John Wanamaker as 
Postmaster-General. The Frelinghuysen home is that of the 
man of letters. All the social world will be glad that so much of 
this delightful house is left intact by the new purchaser that when 
it is again filled by distinguished men and women in social 



270 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

gatherings, it will be through widely open doors and generous 
hospitality — only faces will be changed. 

And greater charities have not been done than by this host 
and hostess. Their lives Jiave been spent in prompting acts of 
beneficence, in getting the rich to help the poor, and helping the 
poor to forget their misery. 

And so it comes that the old mansion is in good hands and 
will sustain all the prestige of former generations. 

******* 

During the time that Levi P. Morton was a member of Con- 
gress his house was on the corner of Fifteenth and H Streets. 
This is another of the houses whose records could tell many tales. 
Better it is, perhaps, that walls, ever so historic, tell no secrets. 
This house is better known as the Hooper House. During Mr. 
Lincoln's administration it was owned and occupied by Samuel 
Hooper, of Boston. Mr. Hooper was a representative in Con- 
gress, a man of sterling worth and integrity, and by his urbane 
manner and liberal hospitality drew around him men of social and 
political standing, like Charles Sumner, Bancroft, the historian, 
and others. 

It was to this house that Andrew Johnson was invited after 
President Lincoln's assassination and his own inauguration. 
Here he remained for weeks, until Mrs. Lincoln had sufficiently 
recovered from the shock of her husband's death to be removed 
from the Executive Mansion. 

Political consultations and Cabinet meetings were held, and 
undoubtedly the chrysalis of the early Johnson policy here found 
form. Stanch Republicans, like Sumner, Hooper, Boutwell and 
others were his advisers. Seward was laid up, suffering from 
the would-be assassin's blow. Harlan, Randall, McCulloch, and 
Welles were in his Cabinet. 

The later policy that developed with President Johnson found 
no sympathy in the hearts of those who had been his friends, nor 
with Congress. 

In the place where the President found his name supported, 
now congregated the same men, with Seward added, laying their 
plans to avert, what seemed to them, the death blow of the nation. 
How well they succeeded, history tells. 



HOMES OF FRELINGHUYSEN, MORTON, AND CHASE. 27 1 

Mr. Hooper had a son who died in his country's service during 
the war. His widow, one of the most attractive women in society 
at that time, connected with some of the foremost people of Bos- 
ton, was one of the attractions of the Hooper mansion. 

Here she constantly met the dignified, elegant Charles Sumner, 
a man in years old enough to be her father. At this time he stood 
before the country its most noble son, the leader of the Repub- 
lican party, at the zenith of popularity, a brilliant orator, a pro- 
found scholar. His speeches filled the galleries with thinking 
men and women, as well as with the beauty and fashion of the 
day. Possessed of lofty stature and nobleness of feat- 
ure, it is not surprising that the fair daughter of Massachusetts 
admired Charles Sumner, and that all Washington was agog 
when it became known that the great statesman was to marry 
Mrs. Hooper. This is not the place to follow the outcome of this 
incongruous marriage. 

After this followed many noted gatherings at the Hooper house. 
General and Mrs. Grant, Mr. and Mrs. Sumner, senators, diplo- 
mats, queens of society, all rivalled each other in wit, brilliancy 
and grace of manner. 

There was in this house for months another guest to whom the 
world owes homage ; a man who possessed in his own person that 
harmonious union of rare qualities which Dr. Holmes says " was 
the master key that opened every door, the countersign that 
passed every sentinel, the unsealed letter of introduction to all 
the higher circles of the highest civilization." Such were the 
natural graces and such the distinguished bearing of J. Lothrop 
Motley. 

After General Grant's first election, Mr. Motley was Mr. 
Hooper's guest, and later Mrs. Motley and their three daughters 
joined him. It was during his stay here that he received the 
appointment of Minister to England, from President Grant. 
This appointment was, undoubtedly, due to Mr. Sumner's influ- 
ence. 

We can imagine what their dinner talks may have been, when 
Motley, Sumner, Hooper and a few other choice spirits exchanged 
views upon literature, art, politics and all the great questions of 
the day, over choice viands and rare wines. 



272 



HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 



But the English mission was an episode in Mr. Motley's life 
full of heart-burnings. If a wrong was done him it must be laid 
at the doors of those whom the nation has delighted to honor, and 
whose services no error of judgment, or feeling, or conduct can 
ever induce us to forget. 

It will be remembered that a serious estrangement had come 
between the President and Mr. Sumner, and we have been told 
by those " near the throne," that when the President saw Mr. 
Motley for the first time, he was disappointed ; in what way does 
not appear. Mr. Motley was a scholar, not a soldier. Whatever 
was the real cause, whether it was slight indiscretion in the 
Alabama treaty, or his relations to Mr. Sumner, or some other 
reason, the letter requesting the resignation of Mr. Motley was 
issued by the President. 

Oliver Wendell Holmes says in his Memoirs, " We might as 
well leave out Achilles from the Iliad as the anger of the Presi- 
dent with Sumner from the story of Mr. Motley's dismissal ;'* and, 
again, " It is not strange that the man who had so lately got out 
of the saddle should catch at the scholastic robe of the man on 
the floor of the Senate." 

Mr. Motley's sudden recall from England was a shock to his 
proud spirit, from which he never recovered — a shock that 
affected his sensibilities, producing an interior laceration from 
which he died. 

Mr. Motley's three daughters married Englishmen. The 
eldest, Mrs. Ives, a widow, married Sir William Harcourt. Not- 
withstanding the feeling she naturally shared with her father 
that America had wronged him, in Sir William Harcourt she must 
have found a sympathizer in Republican ideas, as he is the 
stanch ally of Mr, Gladstone and "home rule." One of the 
other sisters married a Mr. Mildmay ; the third, a son of Richard 
Brinsley Sheridan. All have become daughters of old Eng- 
land, and in her soil rests the dust of John Lothrop Motley. 

Mr, Morton, the newly elected Vice-President and late minister 
to France, purchased this house, and, as we have said, occupied it 
while he was in Congress. He belongs to the old merchant 
aristocracy of New York, and is one of the most popular of all 
merchant princes. When the future of the country was in ques- 



HOMES OF FRELINGHUYSEN, MORTON, AND CHASE. 273 

tion at the outbreak of the Civil war, there was no uncertain ring 
in his decisions ; they were founded on the broad principle of 
patriotism. He has lived to see France, which under the second 
empire attempted to take advantage of our civil strife and invade 
Mexico, become a free Republic upon the American model, and 
himself chosen to represent the United States at the capital of 
the French Republic. 

The day before James A. Garfield was made President he 
breakfasted with Mr. Morton, and it was, perhaps, at this time 
that the curious dispute arose as to the terms of agreement by 
which Mr, Morton had been pledged either the portfolio of the 
Secretary of the Treasury, or ministership to France. 

This was the secret bargain that had gained credence by which 
Mr. Garfield was to obtain the support of the stalwart faction ; but 
when the campaign had been fought and won, Mr. Garfield's 
advisers insisted that Mr. Morton must be sent off to France. 
Mr. Morton never revealed the facts and the secret remained with 
Roscoe Conkling. It is known that Mr. Morton accepted, what 
to him, was banishment from his country, and amid all the 
grandeur by which he was surrounded he sighed for his native 
land. 

While he was in Europe Senator Hale lived in this house. 
Thus it comes that the house is filled with special memories. 
But, alas ! even it, like the men who have passed before us, is no 
more, and is counted among the things that were. An apartment 
house is being built in its place. 

Lincoln, Stanton, Sumner, Hooper, Johnson, Grant, Motlej', 
Garfield and Conkling have all passed away, and but the ghosts 
of memory people our brain, as once they gave life and character 
to this historic spot. 

Mr. Morton began life in a country dry-goods store in Concord, 
N. H. Later he was a teacher in a district school. He 
was a bachelor of thirty-two when he married for his first 
wife Lucy Kimball, of Flat Land, Long Island. She was a woman 
of rare energy of character, possessing wonderful executive abil- 
ity, generous and benevolent to a marked degree, a woman of 
many charms of person and temperament. 

Grace Church Memorial of New York, was the gift of Mr. Mor- 



2/4 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON: 

ton in memory of his wife's unselfish service to the poor. She 
died in Newport in 187 1, leaving no children. 

On the walls of Mr. Morton's house in Fifth Avenue, New 
York, among the portraits of Washington, Grant, Garfield and 
La Fayetie is a daguerreotype of the old country store at Concord, 
where he began his mercantile career, which led to his seniorship 
in a large wholesale house in New York ; from that to ships, from 
ships to foreign exchange and to the banking house of Morton, 
Bliss & Co., New York, and of Morton, Rice & Co., London. 

The present Mrs. Morton is the daughter of William L Street, 
of Poughkeepsie, and the niece of Alfred B. Street, the Albany 
poet. She is a lady of refined tastes, cultivated intellect and fine 
presence. She is the mother of five young daughters. 

No home in Washington will surpass that of the Vice-President, 
on Scott Circle, in royal entertaining; for both Mr. and Mrs. Mor- 
ton have won golden opinions from the people by the manner in 
which they have adorned their high estate, and drawn social 
forces into life at home and at foreign courts. 

* * TT ^ TT 'r TT 

On the northwest corner of Sixth and E Streets is a square- 
built brick house that was once the home of Salmon P. Chase, 
who was successively Governor of his state, a senator in Congress, 
a Secretary of the Treasury and a Chief-Justice of the Supreme 
Court. 

In the country's direst need for level-headed men, he was the 
one who carried its finances triumphantly through the great Civil 
war, and was lastly Chief-Justice of the highest Court in the land. 
It was in this house that the beautiful Kate Chase graced the 
home of her great father. It is said that her history would, in 
part, be a history of the war ; that no one woman had more to do 
in influencing the movements on the military and political chess- 
board than she, and it was her influence largely that kept 
McClellan at the head of the army. An unfortunate marriage to 
a man of brilliant promise, for the sake of the father she adored, 
which failed by the smallest chance of making him the Chief 
Magistrate of the nation, proved her downfall. There was a time 
when Mrs. Sprague's position, her exquisite grace, her beauty of 
form and feature gave her the ascendency in society. Self-exiled 



HOMES OF FRELINGHUYSEN, MORTON, AND CHASE. 275 

has she been for years in a foreign country, educating her children. 
Edgewood, on the outskirts of the city, the country home of the 
family, has had most of the tune a deserted look. The change 
that has come upon this once happy family, has laid its hand also 
upon beautiful Edgewood. The nation will always reverence the 
name of Salmon P. Chase, and not forget the beautiful daughter 
who went down into the valley of suffering through filial affection 
and aspirations. 

An organization of members of the bar from Ohio, in the 
summer of 1886, removed the remains of Mr. Chase to Cincinnati, 
where he was best known as a lawyer. Mrs. Kate Chase Sprague 
returned from Europe to attend the last sad rites in honor of the 
father she adored. The last time we saw her sweet, sad face 
was just as this small funeral cortege left Oakhill Cemetery. She 
was the only female occupant of the carriage ; solitary and alone, 
as mourner. As the procession passed over the brow of the hill, 
slowly wending its way out of the golden sunlight down into the 
lengthening shadows of the valley, it seemed a counterpart of her 
own life. 

We turn back the leaf of time and realize the rapidity with 
which great events in human history are often wrought. How few 
the years since Kate Chase was the embodiment of womanly 
grace and loveliness and one of the leading representatives in 
official society ! Her star did not set in a cloudless sky ; there 
was no golden sunset, no roseate hues ; she walked through the 
shadows of humiliation which came of shattered hopes and bitter 
experiences. The home of Salmon P. Chase lives only in mem- 
ory. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

GEORGETOWN HEIGHTS — THE CHANGES OF A HUNDRED YEARS — 
THE HOLLAND HOUSE OF WASHINGTON. 

Antiquated Tablets — The Beale Family — An Indian Princess — Celtic Bell — 
Georgetown Aristocrats — The Peters Family — The Tudor Estate — The 
shifting Panorama — Thuldkill — A fifty Years' Lapse — The Linthicum 
Mansion — The Russian Minister — Madame Bodisco — A great Wedding — 
A grand Fete — Madame Bodisco en route to the White House — Mounted 
Police — Rights of Hospitality rigidly observed — General Forrest at Rose- 
dale — His Daughter, Mrs. John Green — Don Angel de Iturbide married 
Mr. Green's Daughter — 111 Fate of Mexico's first Emperor — Maximilian 
adopts Augustin Iturbide — Rosedale in the Hands of George F. Green — 
" Pretty Prospect " — The Home of President Cleveland — " Oak View " — 
Philip Barton Key — Lived at Woodley — Author of the Star Spangled 
Banner — When and how Written — Society Mildew — A touching Incident 
of Abraham Lincoln — Tudor Place — Ancestral Home of the Peters Family 
— A magnificent View — Baronial Mansion — Holland House — When built 
— Where found — Mr. and Mrs. Johnson remove from Philadelphia — This 
House in the Suburbs — Puritan Stock — Descendant of John Rogers — 
Washington a straggling Village — Gales and Seaton — Genteel Iittelli- 
ge7icer — A wonderful Development — Stirring Times — Fugitive Slave Bill 
— The Tariff of 1846 — Wide-spread Disaster — The National Credit at 
Zero — The Councils of good Men and Women — The World benefitted 
and Humanity blessed — Frederika Bremer — Harriet Martineau — The Bat- 
tle of Bull Run — Miss Dix — Chrysalis of the Sanitary Commission — 
Pen Picture of the House — An Historic Parlor — Rare Paintings — Choice 
Water-colors — Theodosia Burr — Mr, Johnson's Death — Two Women of 
superior Intellect — Miss Donaldson — Mrs. Johnson past Fourscore and 
ten Years — She has lived to see the Coming of the Glory of the 
Lord. 

Not many years ago there were unearthed in Georgetown some 
tablets of great value to the lover of antiquities. These slabs 
bear date so remote that most of the inscriptions have been eaten 
away by the tooth of time, but there remains sufficient to identify 

276 



GEORGETOWN HEIGHTS. 2/7 

the Beale family, whose estate comprised what is known as George- 
town Heights. 

Far back in the shadowy past the clear, ringing tongue of the 
Celtic Bell made melody in the ear of an Indian princess, who 
soon after became his wife. The first home of this young pair 
was a wigwam founded upon Dunbarton Rock ; afterwards a 
log cabin snuggled in these woody heights. Here Madam Bell, 
attended by her pale-faced consort, led the fashion without rival, 
and with none to dispute her sway. 

To the east stretched their vast possessions, which embraced 
all the land within the scope of vision between the cottage and 
the rising sun. Over the stormy seas came the winged sailing 
vessels, bringing rich brocades and laces for this dusky queen. 
Her costumes were half civilized and half barbaric. 

These ancient Georgetown aristocrats have been slowly under- 
going the bleaching process, and the past hundred years have 
almost obliterated the last trace of Indian origin. But true to 
their instinct they were the first to seize the deadly musket in the 
Southern cause ; and the late battle-fields of the South are made 
richer by the bones of the last of the aristocracy of Georgetown. 

After the Bells came the Peters family, whose slave call was 
answered by hundreds of sable men. Georgetown Heights, in 
those days, was called the Tudor estate, in memory of the royal 
line in England. 

The Peters family was related to the Washingtons and the Lees. 
Washington Peters is the most prominent descendant of this 
aristocratic family, but the last fragment of the estate has passed 
away from him, and he lives on a farm at Ellicott's Mills, a man of 
nearly eighty years. He alone retains the haughty bearing of the 
proud family, the last of his race whose hand has rested on the 
yoke of a slave. 

The shifting panorama shows us Protestant Thuldkill, who 
through the influence of Archbishop Carroll, of Baltimore, gave 
the extensive grounds, now occupied by the Georgetown College 
and convent, to the Catholic church, during the latter part of the 
last century. But little has come down to us of the social element 
of the Thuldkills. They were a family of culture and refinement, 
and institutiojis of learning that have sprung up under their foster- 



278 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

ing care are their enduring monuments. The following amusing 
incident was related to us by a friend: 

Mr. Thuldkill was a great stock breeder on his estate, George- 
town Heights. When merino sheep first attracted attention in 
this country, he had obtained a small flock, and had been nego- 
tiating for some time for a ram. At length it reached Washing- 
ton. He mounted his horse, and rode anxiously to see and possess 
it. It was a splendid animal, with a price correspondingly high. 
He bought it, engaged a cart and negro driver, and hastily 
addressed a note to Mrs. Thuldkill, saying that a stranger and 
several gentlemen would dine with them, and to have especially a 
leg of mutton done up in superior style, adding also, " The colored 
boy who delivers this takes over a splendid ram ; please see to it." 

The ram was tied up, and the preliminaries of the feast arranged. 
In reference to the mutton, Mrs. Thuldkill consulted her steward, 
and they concluded from the tenor of the note that the animal 
sent by the cart was to supply the leg of mutton for the festive 
board ; so accordingly, that costly and fine ram was victimized, and 
his plump quarter dressed, garnished and served smoking at the 
head of the table. 

After some preliminary libations at the sideboard, the guests 
were seated, and a generous slice of mutton was placed upon each 
plate. They unanimously decided that it was very superior, and 
the host heartily endorsed the sentiment, and turning to his 
delighted spouse, enquired from which particular flock it had been 
taken. She, of course, responded : " It was the large ram you 
sent for the occasion this morning." 

This was too much. The old gentleman's cue stood on end, his 
face was fairly purple, for at first he was dumfounded. He arose 
from his chair, nearly upsetting the table, and brought his fist 
down with a tremendous thump, and, with an emphasis pinned 
with oaths, said: "Madam, you have slaughtered my magnifi- 
cent ram, for which I paid three hundred dollars this morning." 
It was a scene so ridiculous, it is said one of the guests was 
obliged to withdraw to have his laugh out. 

Coming down to the last fifty years, we find the artistocracy 
of Georgetown strongly flavored with merchants and trades- 
people. 



GEORGETOWN HEIGHTS. 279 

The Linthicum mansion, which is one of the finest, was 
built and owned by a hardware merchant. He, too, has passed 
away like all the old residents who gave tone to the elegant 
society which ruled during the administrations of Polk and 
Buchanan. 

At this time one of the social queens of the capital lived in 
Georgetown, the city of her birth and education, the daughter 
of an obscure, but highly respected citizen, Mr. Williams. At 
the early age of sixteen she was married to the Russian 
minister, Bodisco. At this wedding there were eight brides- 
maids. Miss Jessie Benton, the first, walked with James Bu- 
chanan. The bride wore a rich satin brocade and veil of Hon- 
iton lace, her ornaments simply a pearl sprig and pin. Henry 
Clay gave her away. M. de Bodisco wore his splendid 
court dress of blue, decorated with several orders and pre- 
cious stones, and silver lace of great depth. The foreign 
ministers of his train wore their uniforms. 

This marriage at once lifted Madame de Bodisco to the 
highest round in the social ladder, while his vast wealth was used 
to give his wifely jewel the most costly setting. From over 
the sea came the flashing gems that had adorned the persons 
of a hundred generations of Bodisco Russians, diamonds 
eclipsed only by those of world wide fame ; the same that 
Mrs. Tyler mentions in a letter written in 1842 : " I very 
seldom go to parties, but, of course, I could not refuse Madame 
Bodisco's invitation. Her ball was expected to be the grandest 
affair of the season. Madame Bodisco looked lovely and was 
attired in pink satin with lace, flowers and such splendid dia- 
monds, stomacher, earrings, breast pin, bracelets ! — I never saw 
such beautiful diamonds. Most of the furniture was of European 
make, and the house was filled with a variety of curios, bric-k- 
brac and works of art, the china service unsurpassed, the plate 
magnificent." 

Articles from this mansion are yet to be seen in some of 
the homes, and find a way into loan collections from time to 
time. 

The most superb fete ever given in the District, it is said, was 
given in this house, in honor of the birthday of the Emperor 



280 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

Nicholas, when eight hundred guests were invited. Music en- 
livened the brilliant scene. All the foreign ministers were in 
attendance, with their attache's, in court dress. 

The supper was served at one o'clock. A commodious apart- 
ment in the second story was set apart to accommodate the ladies. 
The table was covered with gold and mirror plateaus, candelabras, 
ornamental dishes, gold forks, etc. The gentlemen were not 
admitted to this room, the ladies being waited upon by servants. 
The gentlemen's supper room was in the third story. 

The Czar of Russia was represented by one of the most popular 
ministers of the Diplomatic Corps. None compared in popularity 
with M. Bodisco. Courtesies extended and entertainments given 
are often found to be the golden chain that binds nations to- 
gether. 

In those primitive days the working people used to line the 
roadway to see Madame Bodisco pass from her mansion to the 
White House, on occasions of receptions, or levees. If the weather 
permitted, she was visible to all in her open carriage, far more 
beautiful than the famous Eugenie, and with the same superior 
tact and grace. Creamy white satin and costly old lace was 
the favorite costume, and when adorned with jewels worth 
more than half a million, mounted policemen followed in her 
train. 

The people said : *' Old Bodisco is afraid some one will steal 
his wife," but he was simply protecting her after the Russian 
fashion. But this American girl was something more than a figure 
to be adorned with stones. With that superb tact which only a 
Josephine knew how to practice, she united the contending social 
elements. She thawed the frozen ocean of diplomatic ceremony 
and bade the foreign fortress open its doors to her countrywomen 
as well as herself. It is true she had, standing at her right hand, 
the incomparable Harriet Lane of the White House. History 
rarely records the fact that distinguished ladies are beautiful, 
JDut popular acclamation gave both these women the fairest 
crown. 

Alike in style and type, both blondes, perfect in form and feat- 
ure, with Titian-tinted flesh and golden hair, such as the masters 
gave their beloved Madonnas, they held their emblems of power 



GEORGE TO WN HEIGHTS. 28 1 

with a firmer grasp than did Marie Antoinette, a woman of the 
same mould. 

* * * ^ * * * 

There is no place where the sacred rites of hospitality were 
more rigidly observed than on the Heights of Georgetown, and at 
no period of history was this more generously carried out than 
immediately after the Revolutionary war. 

One of the generals of that war was Uriah Forrest, a member 
of an aristocratic Maryland family. During the struggle for inde- 
pendence, he served in the " Maryland Line " and lost a leg at 
the battle of Brandywine ; he was again wounded at the battle of 
Germantown, from the effects of which he never recovered. 
He was as distinguished in civil, as he was in military affairs. 
During the years 1786-87, he was a delegate from Maryland to 
the Continental Congress, and a representative in the Councils 
from 1793 to 1794, when he resigned. 

When the District of Columbia was ceded to the United States 
by the states of Maryland and Virginia, General Forrest resided 
on his estate, " Rosedale," near Georgetown, then a portion of 
Montgomery County, but being within the ten miles square, it 
became a part of the District, and General Forrest thus became 
literally one of the first families of the District of Columbia. 

He married Rebecca Plater of " Rousby Hall," Maryland, 
daughter of George Plater. Mrs. Forrest was remarkable for her 
beauty. She was once toasted in England as " one of America's 
great beauties." 

General Forrest died at his residence, " Rosedale," in 1805. 
One of his daughters married John Green of Maryland, who was 
for many years an efficient clerk in the Navy department. They 
lived at " Rosedale," the former residence of her father. 

One of the daughters of Mr. Green married Don Angel de Itur- 
bide, whose father was the ill-fated Don Augustine First, the first 
and last emperor of Mexico, who after being banished from his 
country, had the courage to return, and soon after fell into the 
hands of his enemies, and was shot in the presence of his family, 
who were banished and sought an asylum in the United States, 
where they remained many years. But in the lapse of time, the 
friends of the late emperor came into power, and young Iturbide, 



282 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

who from a long residence in this country, spoke English like a 
native, was appointed Secretary of the Mexican Legation in 1856 ; 
and it was while holding that position that his marriage with Miss 
Green took place. To them was born a son, Don Augustin. He 
was about seven, or eight years old when Maximilian, supported 
by the bayonets of Napoleon III., attempted bis unsuccessful con- 
quest of Mexico. 

Maximilian, deeming it a wise policy to make himself popular 
with the people he was ambitious to govern, resolved to adopt 
young Augustin Iturbide as his heir. 

In order to get control of the boy, he held out promises of 
power and wealth to the parents of Augustin, who, as soon as such 
promises were accepted and the child given up, were banished 
from the country, and once more sought the fostering care of the 
United States. Upon their arrival here, they called upon William 
H. Seward, then Secretary of State, to ask him to use his influence 
as mediator between Maximilian and themselves. 

But the United States being then at war, Mr. Seward was timid 
about making any fresh complications with foreign countries, so he 
declined to interfere, but advised Madame Iturbide to go to Paris 
and see Napoleon and lay her case before him. 

She followed Mr. Seward's instructions, but failed to get a per- 
sonal interview with Napoleon ; and was compelled to lay her case 
before him in writing, He declined to interfere, and Madame 
Iturbide was once more forced to return to her mother's home, 
" Rosedale." 

Soon after the downfall and death of Maximilian, Augustin and 
his parents were once more united. Young Iturbide, after being 
educated in the best colleges in this country and Europe, again 
returned to the home of his fathers. 

Mrs. Green, the daughter of General Forrest, and mother of 
Mrs. Iturbide, during her lifetime, gave a portion of " Rosedale" 
to her son, George F. Green, whereon he erected a stone house. 
The point upon which the house was built presents a magnificent 
view of Washington and the surrounding country, and was called 
by him "Pretty Prospect." 

•'Pretty Prospect" has since been purchased by President 
Cleveland, who has made many handsome improvements to the 



GEORGETOWN HEIGHTS. 283 

property. With the change of owners came a change of name, 
and it is now known as " Oak View." 

Governor Plater's daughter, Ann, married Judge Philip Barton 
Key. He was born in Maryland in 1765. He entered the Eng- 
lish service as captain, and distinguished himself by refusing to 
bear arms against tlie colonies. Afterward he established a high 
reputation as a lawyer, and lived at that beautiful spot called 
" Woodley." 

Francis Scott Key, who immortalized his name by the writing 
of the " Star Spangled Banner," was a nephew of Judge Key. 
An authentic account of the incidents connected with the writing 
of this national song has been given by the grand niece of Dr. 
Beans, Mrs. Dorsey. 

" Francis Key, in 1810, lived in Georgetown, Dr. Beans, of 
Marlborough, a surgeon in the United States army, was attending 
the disabled soldiers, when Commodore Barney's flotilla was 
attacked on the Patuxent. The British army on their march to 
Washington, bivouacked on the plantation of Dr. Beans, who, 
though detesting them, treated the officers with true Maryland 
hospitality. 

" A few days after their departure, while he was at dinner with 
some friends, a slave brought the news that the British were 
marching back to their boats. Full of glee, the party went to a 
spring on the estate, with lemons, whiskey, etc., to drink to the 
confusion of perfidious ' Albion.' 

"Three tired English soldiers coming for water, were made 
prisoners by the patriotic American gentleman, and marched off 
to the county jail. The men were missed from the ranks, and a 
detachment sent in search of them, traced them to Marlborough, 
where the terrified inhabitants betrayed who were the captors. 
The men were recovered. Dr. Beans was seized at midnight, 
placed in his night-dress on the bare back of a mule and taken, 
closely guarded, to the troops. Thence he was sent to Admiral 
Cockburn's ship and into rigorous confinement. The whole 
country was aroused, and as soon as steps could be taken, Fran- 
cis Key, the intimate friend of Dr. Beans, was sent by President 
Madison, with a flag of truce, to get him exchanged. When Key 
reached the British fleet at North Point, they were about to attack 
Baltimore, and, though he was courteously received and invited 
to dine with Cockburn, he was informed that he must remain on 
board till after the bombardment of the city. He shared his 
friend's uncomfortable quarters that memorable night, at sunset 



284 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

seeing the Star Spangled Banner waving proudly from the ram- 
parts of Fort McHenry, When the morning dawned after that 
night of battle, lit at intervals by the lurid flashes of exploding 
bombs, and made fearful by the thunders of cannon, the mist was 
too dense to discern whether the flag or the red cross of St. 
George waved from the fort, in the direction in which the two 
watched through the port-hole, trembling with suspense. Pres- 
ently there was a ripple in the water, a soft sough in the fog, and, 
like magic, it rolled away, revealing the American flag still float- 
ing defiantly from the staff above the ramparts. The patriots fell 
on each other's breasts, weeping for joy. Mr. Key then drew a 
letter from his pocket, and on its back penciled the first stanza of 
the celebrated national song. After the bombardment, Dr. Beans 
and Mr. Key were sent ashore in a skiff." 



The land force was under the command of the grandfather of 
Kate Claxton, the dramatic artist. After the song was completed 
it was published in the Baltimore American. 

With the coming of civil war a society mildew fell upon George- 
town. Neighbors and friends looked upon each other with 
mutual distrust. As a general rule most of the fighting element 
rolled southward. In a few instances a house was divided against 
itself. 

Once a Georgetown mother appeared before Abraham Lincoln 
to beg for the life of her son, who had been caught as a guerilla 
with arms in his possession. " My eldest son," said the mother, 
•* is a trusty ofiicer in the Union army ; my youngest, my darling, 
was one of Mosby's guerillas." 

"Miserable mother," said the President, "God help you, for I 
cannot. I know who you are ; this is the third time your boy has 
been caught. Mercy is beyond me." And the man with stream- 
ing eyes supported the faltering steps of the wretched woman 
beyond the threshold. 

At this period social life was dead, apparently beyond resurrec- 
tion. 

One of the most beautiful and historic homes of Georgetown 
is the Tudor Place. It is the ancestral home of the Peters family. 
The house is built of English brick and contains eighteen or 
twenty spacious apartments. 

The hall runs through the centre of the house, opening into a 



GEORGETOWN' HEIGHTS. 



285 



large conservatory. The staircase leads up from the inner cor- 
ridor. In winter, when entering the house, you are charmed with 
the bright glow and sweet fragrance of flowers, which whisper a 
pleasant welcome. The grounds in summer bear the imprint of 
careful culture. The mammoth shade trees, the velvety lawns, 
flowers, vines and shrubbery, in endless variety, present a truly 
beautiful scene. Like so many places on the Heights, it affords 
a magnificent view. 

At the period when the courtly manners of the old colonial 
times prevailed, all that was best of the social circles of George- 
town and Washington used to assemble there, among them the 
Washingtons, Lees, Fairfaxes, Calverts and Spotsfords. 

******* 

Holland House was built in the forties. It is on Twelfth 
Street, northwest, No. 506. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson removed from 
Philadelphia here in 1848 ; this was the only house available in 
the city that possessed any of the appointments and conveniences 
of the Philadelphia houses, and they took possession of it. It was 
at that time quite in the suburbs. Most of the residences of 
polite society were in the vicinity of C, and Third, and Four-and-a- 
half Streets. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson were of good old Puritan 
stock. Mr. Johnson was a lineal descendant of John Rogers, and 
Mrs. Johnson was a daughter of Dr. Donaldson, a soldier in the 
Revolutionary war. 

Washington, at this time, was little more than a straggling 
village, fulfilling painfully the idea of a city of dreary distances. 
The avenues were poorly paved, and the streets almost impassable 
and miserably lighted. Modern improvements came in slowly, for 
slavery was spread like a cloud over the District. Gales & 
Seaton were struggling to keep pace with the times and sustain 
the prestige of the genteel Intelligencer. 

New men took their places : those who were accustomed to the 
demands and progress of the times. Years passed by ; the slow 
improvement was anxiously watched. The people who were in the 
watch-tower of social and physical advancement have seen the 
desolation and decay of the last forty years succeeded by a diver- 
sified and wonderful development. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson came 
to Washington in stirring times. Their Puritan education and 



286 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

instincts were in contradiction to many acts of Congress and the 
seeming trend of public thought. The passage of the Fugitive 
Slave Bill, the extension of slave power, which brought on the 
long and terrible struggle between the friends of Free Soil and 
the friends of Slavery for the possession of Kansas, which con- 
vulsed the country for years, and moistened the soil of that terri- 
tory with blood, had left its impress here. The Free Trade Tariff 
of 1846 had produced a train of business and financial disasters ; 
instead of prosperity, everywhere was misery and ruin. Even the 
rich gold mines of California and the flow of its golden treasure 
into the Eastern States could not stay the wide-spread discom- 
fiture. President Fillmore, who succeeded General Taylor on the 
latter's death, warned Congress to protect our manufactures from 
" ruinous competition from abroad," and President Buchanan, in 
his Message of 1857, declared that, "In the midst of unsurpassed 
plenty, in all the productions and in all the elements of national 
wealth we find our manufactui*es suspended, our public works 
retarded, our private enterprises of different kinds abandoned, and 
thousands of useful laborers thrown out of employment and 
reduced to want." Further than this the financial credit of the 
nation was at zero. 

This was the condition of this goodly land ; a state of things 
that would naturally assemble the better part of society, the 
thinking men and women of the country, to take counsel 
together. From these councils went forth influences that have 
proved a mighty shatterer of fetters and a dissolvent of many 
cast-iron prejudices. 

Probably no house has entertained under its roof more dis- 
tinguished men and cultured women than Holland House. By 
this we do not mean the men and women who are the social lions 
of the day, but those who are known to the world as having made 
it better by having lived in it. Scholars, scientists and patriots 
have gathered here year after year. 

Sunday's twilight has brought sage and philanthropist under 
this roof, and over the simple tea, situations have been discussed 
and plans laid — plans that years have matured and time ripened 
into full fruition, from which the world has been benefitted and 
humanity blessed. 



GEORGE TO WN HEIGHTS. 287 

Here were found those who were quickly and keenly sympa- 
thetic with the life of the time. All social and intellectual agita- 
tions of the day were discussed in a way that gave mental quick- 
ening and force to those taking part in them. Here one always 
met the friends of human progress ; such men as Charles Sumner, 
Senator Hale, William H. Seward, George S. Boutwell, Wendell 
Phillips, William Lloyd Garrison, Gerrit Smith, Oliver Johnson, 
Henry Wilson, Fred Douglas and Joshua Giddings— men whose 
blows, struck for freedom and the right, have been felt over the 
world. 

This was one of the " Homes of the New World " in which 
Frederika Bremer formed her sweet recollections of American 
life, and of which she wrote after her visit to this country in 1849, 
when she returned to Sweden. 

Harriet Martineau also was a friend. Her abhorrence of slav- 
ery, her advanced ideas of political economy found ready sympa- 
thy in the hearts of these philanthropists. 

After the battle of Bull Run this was one of the first houses to 
open its doors for the wounded and dying. Miss Dix, who was 
also an intimate friend of Mrs. Johnson, had passed through 
Washington and was stopping in Baltimore when the news of the 
battle reached her. She returned at once, and, for a time, had 
full charge of the improvised hospital arrangements, her head- 
quarters being with Mrs. Johnson. From New England's store- 
house of supplies, medicines and delicacies were sent which were 
made up in every house and hamlet, until from cellar to garret, 
each room was filled, and this was the chrysalis of the Sanitary 
Commission which afterwards was planned and organized in the 
parlors of this house, with Dr. Bellows and Dr. Channing as 
prime movers. 

There does not live a soldier to-day who is treading the paths 
of life as best he may, armless, legless, and with shattered frame, 
but has invoked God's loving benediction upon this great and 
merciful commission and the noble men and women who con- 
ceived and accomplished such glorious results. 

This house is built of red brick, three stories and a basement. 
Winding steps lead up from the street to the front door ; you 
enter a broad hall ; a winding stairw^ay at the end leads to the 



288 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

second story. At the left is a large bay window ; a small table 
and a couple of easy chairs fill the space. A beautiful etched 
portrait of Washington hangs on the wall underneath a tri-pan- 
elled sepia drawing (by Toft, a Danish water-color painter) of 
Sulgrave manor, Northamptonshire, England, the ancestral man- 
sion of the Washington family. Mount Vernon is in the centre, and 
Brinton Church, which the Washingtons attended, and the tombs 
of the Washington family. Underneath is the coat-of-arms of the 
Washingtons, that suggested the American flag. To the right you 
enter the large salon parlor, where so many men of thought and 
action, at the nation's capital, have assembled during the last 
twenty, thirty, and forty years. The walls are hung with rare 
paintings ; several of them from the brush of Charles B. King, an 
artist who has painted the portraits of more public men than any 
other Washington artist. For forty years he had his studio in a 
building on Twelfth Street, now used for the Newsboys' Home. 
An exquisite portrait of his is now in this collection — a fair 
young face, said to be that of the daughter of Aaron Burr, the 
unfortunate and beautiful Theodosia. Choice water-colors are 
grouped here and there, showing a later school and younger taste. 
They are the selections of Mrs. Stroude, a niece of Mrs. Johnson, 
of whose years, many have been spent in the atmosphere of this 
cultured home. Mr. Johnson died April, 1852. For many years 
Mrs. Johnson and her sister. Miss Donaldson, lived here, the 
centre and the attraction of a refined circle ; women of superior 
intellect and will, genial and warm-hearted, it was their happiness 
to make others as comfortable as possible. It is to their honor 
that the unknown and the lowly shared in their thoughtful solici- 
tation. 

In 1881 the sweet-faced, gentle Miss Donaldson laid down the 
burden and the cares of life. Mrs. Johnson, now ninety-five years 
old, is patiently waiting on the brink of the waveless shore. She 
has lived to see all the companions of her youth pass away, but 
before the heavenly vision has opened to her, she has seen her 
beloved country clothed in the habiliments of unity, strength and 
freedom. She has lived to see the coming of the glory of the 
Lord, and His servant is ready to depart in peace. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

THE STRATHMORE ARMS. 

The Home of many Representative Men and Women — Here lived Vice-President 
Wheeler — Senator Edmunds — Judge Harlan — Senator Ingalls — James B. 
Blount— M. C. Butler, of South Carolina— Charles T. O'Farrell, of Vir- 
ginia — A Lesson learned — Charles B. Farwell an M. C. — Maine has had 
her quota — Senator Frye and Tom Reed — Michigan royally represented 
— Aspirants for the Speakership — Ohio not left out — Senator McDill and 
Ex-Governor Carpenter — The Badger State — Happy-going Isaac Von 
Schaick— L. B. Caswell— R. M. La Follette— W. A. Haugen— A. S. Giff- 
ard and John Lind — From nearer the Sunset Border — William H. Wade, 
Patron Saint — William E. Mason — " Mother Goose Speech " — Women of 
Culture — Olive Logan Sikes — A gifted Woman — The Home of General 
John A. Logan — His life an open Book — The General as a Scholar — His 
Friendships — An Anecdote of Thad. Stevens — A Job put up on the Gen- 
eral — Secret Interview — Nominated Vice-President — Cheers for "Black 
Jack " — Summer Friends — A Memory of the War — Mary Logan goes to 
his sick Boys — Founds the Striped Hospital — The Night closes — 
George S. Bout'well — Secretary of the Treasury — Great Responsibilities 
ably met — Reuben E. Fenton — Governor and Senator — One who did the 
Country Honor — Senator Hale — An Incident in which President Pierce 
was concerned — Judge Thomas Hood — A familiar Figure — A man of ten- 
der Heart — Friend of Edwin Stanton — " I have Ships at Sea " — Rev. Dr. 
Scott — Mrs. Scott Lord — Mrs. Dimmick — Mrs. Lieutenant Parker — 
Reflex Honor — The Family's Venerable Head — Among the Literati — 
Oliver Johnson — C. C. Coffin (Carleton) — Bronson Howard and his 
English Wife — The " Henrietta " — George Kennan — Siberia — The News- 
paper Fraternity — Many under this Roof — Fleming — Bunnell — McBride 
— Pepper — Andrews — Carpenter — Frank Palmer — Miss Jennings — Har- 
riet Taylor Upton — A charming Coterie of Knights of the Free Lance — 
Unbroken Friendships due the Historic Homes in Washington. 

There are few houses in the city of Washington that pave 
gathered under their roofs so many noted people during the last 
decade as The Strathmore Arms. 

Not alone has it been known for being the home for Congress- 
19 289 



290 



HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 



men and their families, but there is hardly a state but at some 
time has had representative men and women in it as guests. 

The North and the South, the East and the West have here 
congregated year after year. Party and sectional lines have not 
been known. 

Here lived the families of ex-Vice-President Wheeler, Sen- 
ator Edmunds, Judge Harlan of the Supreme Court, Senator 
John J. Ingalls, who always brought with him the atmosphere of 
Essex hills which he first breathed ; the same that has given to 
the Republic Rufus Choate, Judge Story, Caleb Cushing, and 
many other great men. 

The senior member of the Georgia delegation, the able, vigilant 
James H. Blount ; the courteous, dignified senator of South Caro- 
lina, M. C. Butler ; the representative Virginia gentleman, states- 
man and scholar, Charles T. O'Farrell, have here broken bread ; 
and we gather the lesson, as these men come and go, that there is 
a brotherhood reaching above and beyond the strife of private 
rights or public gain that will live when state and country are no 
more. 

The Hon. Charles B. Farwell, before he was raised to the 
dignity of United States senator, was domiciled in this house ; 
and Maine sent her quota in the personnel of Senator Frye and 
Tom Reed, two well-known men in the affairs of state, and M^ho to 
the country are treasures in many ways. If they do not know 
everybody, everybody knows them by reputation. 

Michigan has been royally represented by Hon, Julius C. Bur- 
rows, John T. Rich, R. G. Horr, McGowan, Brewer and Mof- 
fat. 

Two of these men mentioned are aspirants for the speakership. 
No picture, it is said, does Tom Reed justice. He is a splendidly 
developed man in brain and muscle ; he has a large, round head, 
partly covered with a thin, fine growth of soft brown hair, a short 
neck and a face round as the moon ; he has a pair of twinkling, 
humorous brown eyes which, when he laughs, lie in fleshy ambus- 
cade. 

He is the leader on the Republican side, the best parliamenta- 
rian of the House, and if he is made speaker everybody will feel 
that he deserves it. It is said that some day he will be asked to 



THE STRATHMORE ARMS. 29 1 

go over to the other side of the Capitol. It will then be Senator 
Reed, and Julius Caesar Burrows will take the place of leader 
which he vacates. Mr. Burrows' splendid physique, magnificent 
voice and manly bearing would well fit him for an administrative 
officer. 

As Ohio never allows any niche to go unfilled without the 
representative Ohioan, so the Strathmore Arms has had 
Hon. Ezra B. Taylor, John T. Rich and "Silver Bill" 
Warner. 

As we go on towards the sunset we find Senator McDill, of 
Iowa, and ex-Governor Carpenter as member of Congress ; and 
from the Badger state, Senator Cameron, the large-hearted, reli- 
able, happy-going Isaac W. Van Schaick, L. B. Caswell, R. M. La 
Follette, W. A. Haugen. O. S. Gifford and John Lind take us 
farther on over the broad expanse of country. In time the boun- 
daries narrow until the Strathmore Arms brings states and terri- 
tories togeiher. With William H. Wade, of Missouri, as patron 
saint, their burdens are lightened and life brings some cheer, even 
to a congressman. 

Into this peaceful household once walked the spirit and the 
embodiment of the Prince of Evil, Charles Guiteau. He gained 
access to the house by a low cunning, which was ultimately 
proven to be the groundwork of his nature and the demon 
responsible for all of his diabolical acts. 

In alluding to this it brings forward one of the most tragic 
incidents connected with American history, that of the assassina- 
tion of President James A. Garfield. 

The assassin professed intimacy with the President-elect and 
James G. Blaine, and desired to make the acquaintance of John A. 
Logan and other prominent men for their official assistance. In 
this he showed the vagaries of a crazed brain. 

His stay was short, but long enough to make a very unfavor- 
able impression on many of the household, and long enough to 
bring some of them as witnesses at court in one of the most excit- 
ing trials on record. 

How it broadens hope and welds confidence to see men of 
varied minds and untried measures beat and hammer away in the 
halls of legislation, and afterwards in purest friendship meet 



292 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

around a common board, and be to each other the prince of good 
fellows! 

William E. Mason, known better among his numerous friends 
as "Billy" Mason, makes this house ring with merriment when, 
in his droll manner, he hurls some witticism or tells an apt story, of 
which he has an inexhaustible stock. Those who heard his rol- 
licking '* Mother Goose " speech on the Tariff, when the House 
was kept in a roar of laughter, will not forget the telling points 
where every truth struck home. The memory of it will survive, 
when the rhetorical eloquence of Breckenridge, the profound argu- 
ment of Carlisle and the Jacksonian thrusts of Randall have 
been forgotten. 

Mr. Mason is a man short in stature, rising little more than five 
feet above Mother Earth, thick-set, with an avoirdupois of two hun- 
dred and twenty pounds. His hair is black and shaggy, his face 
smooth, broad, and good-natured. In looks he resembles two 
sons of Illinois, John A. Logan and, in a marked degree, the 
" Little Giant," Stephen A, Douglas. 

One meets here society in all its phases ; men and women of 
the world who have more money and leisure than ability to utilize 
them. One sees those who long to read their names in the papers, 
and those who are angered because their names are there; and 
those who delight in social duties, as well as those who are mis- 
erable because of them. Women of culture here congregate ; 
women of patriotism whom the vicissitudes of life have drifted 
into the workshops of the nation ; women whose integrity and 
honor are to them jewels far above the positions lost when for- 
tune changed hands. 

Memory recalls those whose fine sense and broad charity never 
intruded on privacy, never spoke ill of the absent; but rather 
whose conversation and life were full of deep, true instincts that 
make rounded characters, who could talk of science, poetry, art, 
religion and politics with a keen intelligence which made such a 
fellowship and education, such conversation a continual spring of 
inspiration, and social freedom a delight. While the floodgates 
of memory are raised, in walks the embodiment of one of these, 
Olive Logan Sikes. It is not necessary to tell the people who 
she is. Too long she has been one of America's favorite daugh- 



THE STRA THMORE ARMS. 293 

ters not to have been heard of in city, town and hamlet, through 
her writings and her lectures. 

She is a woman as gifted in mind as she is charming in person 
and manner ; she is one who is true to herself, true to her profes- 
sion and true to her sex — a strong, helpful, womanly woman. 

It is for these qualities that she has been kindly received by 
the Queen of England among a few chosen guests at a lawn gath- 
ering at Windsor ; complimented by the Empress of Germany ; 
thanked by the Empress Eugenie for her written words ; bidden 
to the Stratton mansion by Baroness Burdette Coutts ; warmly 
welcomed by the best in her own native land. Wherever her feet 
touch its shores there " Welcome ever smiles." 

She is a handsome woman, of large figure, fine complexion, her 
skin exceeding fair and cheeks rosy with health, pleasant laughing 
blue eyes, an abundance of soft gray wavy hair, which completes a 
pen portrait of this woman who is as fascinating as her letters are 
charming. 

Were it not for the influence she has wielded with her pen in 
the English press, for America and its institutions, for the last 
quarter of a century, during which time she has made London her 
home, more would be the pity that the mother-land could not have 
the honor of sheltering its own daughter in the eventime of life. 
Still Olive Logan feels that her English sojourn is only temporary, 
and always expects to locate in the United States. She is now 
but at the period of ripe middle age, and returns home to America 
every year or two. As soon as she feels her physical powers 
waning, and that she can no longer travel to and fro, she will 
return to America and settle — probably in Washington. 

The face and form of another rises before me as I write, that for 
many years was a noted character and one that filled a large 
place in the public eye. Is there an American heart that will 
ever forget the service rendered to country and state by John A. 
Logan ? 

It is out of respect to his memory that we take up the pen to 
make record of some incidents occurring in his life which came 
under our own eye. For years we broke bread and lived under 
the same roof with him and it was durin": this time that we came 



294 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON: 

to know another side of this man, of which the people at large 
know but little. 

We speak advisedly when we say that his life was an open book ; 
he indulged in no secret plotting, no underground wires, no deep- 
sea affiliations ; every act of his life was one of honest conviction, 
and if there was a legislator of the people and for the people, 
John A. Logan was one. 

Many thought him to be the unyielding, stern, dignified gen- 
eral ; his stalwart figure, raven black hair, and eagle eye that 
could pierce one through when roused, gave credence to this 
belief. But to a friend he was affable, approachable, and always 
had a pleasant word of welcome ; his face could glow with genial 
expression, and the same piercing eye would grow soft and tender 
as a child's. 

There is, perhaps, no part of the general's character as little 
understood as his intellectual attainments. A general impression 
seems to have gone abroad that Mrs. Logan was the power 
behind the throne, in all his literary work, speeches, letters, 
books, what not. There never was a greater error. Mrs. Logan 
has literary tastes, but of a very different order. She had sole 
charge of his correspondence, and any one can see what advantage 
that would be to any public man. Matters that were best kept 
secret were in no danger of divulgence. This correspondence was 
answered by her dictation, and when it is known that often the 
wee small hours of the night have found her at her desk, it can be 
inferred what a helpmate she was to him. 

After the general was nominated for the Vice-Presidency, a 
public demonstration was given him at this residence, where he 
delivered a carefully prepared speech ; some of the papers next 
day, as usual, gave the credit to Mrs. Logan. The facts were 
General Logan had a private room in which to prepare his speech, 
and Mrs. Logan was too ill to see any one that day but the nurse 
attending her. 

One very stormy Sunday, in the public parlor were congregated 
several of the household. General Logan among the rest. The 
conversation drifted upon religious subjects. Among the number 
was a young man who really was an intellectual prodigy, but with- 
out principle. He made a furious attack on the Christian relig- 



THE STRATHMORE ARMS. 



295 



ion, and especially the Methodist church. The general listened 
attentively for a time. At length he opened upon him. It took 
but a very few moments to show who was the Biblical scholar, and 
it was as interesting as it was astonishing to learn how completely 
the general had the Bible at his command. The young man saw 
that he could hold no argument with him on religion, and so with- 
drew his forces and planted them upon the plains of the Pelopon- 
nesus. Again the general proved himself quite as much at ease 
among the classics as in Bible lore. The Greek philosophers, 
statesmen, and warriors, one after another, were brought up, each 
one a representative of the past in his age, their ambitions and 
their failures noted. Through a mass of commentaries and tradi- 
tions he had gathered them out of the centuries ; and on that 
stormy afternoon we listened to the old story afresh from his lips. 
The young man sat, astonished and thrilled, through it all, while 
the whole company had been held spellbound by the man whom, 
the newspapers say, got some one else to write his speeches. 

We remember a paper prepared for the Travel Club, one of the 
literary clubs of Washington, upon the military life of Egypt. It 
was wonderful in research, beautiful in expression, abounding in 
interesting data, and when we asked where he went for all this 
information, he replied, " I have had no book in my hand but the 
Bible." 

If he liked a friend, it was for his true worth ; rich or poor, high 
or low, it mattered not; if he possessed redeeming traits, he liked 
him for those ; if a servant did him a kind act he never forgot it, 
and from that time held him in grateful remembrance. If, by vir- 
tue of his office, he could be of help to others, the needed aid was 
sure to follow. It sometimes happened that those who had been 
thus benefitted would keep aloof out of consideration to the great 
demands upon his time ; nothing hurt him more and we have 
been surprised at the sensitiveness manifested. He was fond of 
company and was always glad to see his friends. He would say, 
"When my friends come wanting no service of mine, I know they 
come because they want to see me, and it is the people who are 
willing to foot it that I like to see. But when they come with a 
great flourish of trumpets, four-in-hand and livery, it is because 
other people do it, it is the thing to do — there is no heart in it." 



296 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

It always gave him pain when he recalled the injustice done 
him by the criticisms made on his educational bill, that the "Tax 
on Whiskey should go towards educating the masses." 

As we look upon it in the light of the days gone by, we can but 
feel that the advocates of temperance were "penny wise and 
pound foolish ; " as though it would purify the money by being put 
into the general crib and drawn q\x\. ad libitum^ had the Educa- 
tional bill passed. The anecdote repeated by the senator is perti- 
nent to the case. 

One morning the tall, stately form of Thaddeus Stevens was 
making its way up to the Capitol on Pennsylvania Avenue. He 
was stopped by a colored man, who saluted him with a " good 
morning," and added that the colored people were struggling 
along to build a church ; could he help them a little. Mr. Stevens 
took a hundred dollar bill out of his pocket and handed it to the 
man, eyeing him closely, and said, " There is a hundred dollars I 
won gambling last night ; if that will serve you you are welcome 
to it." The colored man, instead of disdaining to take the monej', 
as the donor supposed he would, adroitly slipped it into his pocket, 
exclaiming : " God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to 
perform." 

The day before the Chicago convention, permission was asked 
by the Telegraph Company to run a wire into an upper room of 
the Strathmore Arms in which the general lived. Consent was 
given, and when the General retuftied from the Capitol he was told 
what had been done. With an amusing twinkle in his eye he 
said : " You and that company have been putting a job upon me." 
When asked : " Do you object ? " he answered : " Well, I would 
not have done it myself." But before the convention was over 
it proved to be the right thing in the right place. 

The Sunday previous to the convention, James G. Blaine called 
on General Logan. During the forenoon they were in secret 
session in an upper room. What the outcome of the conference 
was cannot be known except by the events that followed. It at 
least made one room in this house historic. Without doubt that 
Sunday's agreement as to the political strength proved the defeat 
of Mr. Arthur, with the consequent but wholly unexpected result 
of makinfr Grover Cleveland President of the United States. 



THE STKATHMORE ARMS. 297 

"There are occasions and causes, why and wherefore in all 
things." 

When the moment in the convention came that Logan's follow- 
ing would turn the vote to James G. Blaine, the order to do so 
was given. There was never shown greater magnanimity by any 
man than by him on this occasion, when he consented to take the 
second place on the ticket. His friends know the true inwardness 
of the whole transaction, that it was against his wishes and judg- 
ment, but he yielded to their earnest appeals. 

After the nomination of Mr. Blaine, an adjournment was taken 
till eight o'clock p. m. Then the telegrams came pouring in 
from all over the land, urging consent for his name to be run, 
still he did not yield ; one after another who felt that the fate of 
the ticket rested largely upon his acceptance, called in person to 
urge it. Ex-Governor George S. Boutwell, who was a guest in the 
same house, left the dinner table and was closeted for some time 
with the general. When he left the room many were anxiously 
awaiting the decision ; when he was asked what was the final con- 
clusion of the whole matter, he answered : " We shall see what we 
shall see." 

When the final hour came, bringing the message from the con- 
vention for his answer, the general sat there more composed than 
any one in the room, holding in his hand a piece of paper folded ; 
he handed it to the operator who turned pale as he read it. No 
one in the room knew the decision. Tick, tick went the machine ; 
on to the convention went the message : " My friends can do what 
they think best for the party," and in less time than it has taken 
to write this, a sea of heads could be seen moving up Twelfth 
Street on double-quick to his residence, while cries for General 
Logan and cheers for '* Black Jack " filled the air. Before many 
in the house knew that the message had gone, the general was 
nominated Vice-President by acclamation, and the multitude in 
front was doing him enthusiastic homage. 

General Logan had good reasons for making the quotation he 
did at the decoration of the tomb of General Grant : 

"Blow, blow thou winter wind, 
Thou art not so unkind 
As man's ingratitude." 



298 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

There probably was no one who had oftener proved this ; for no 
man in public life was so frequently appealed to for help and in- 
fluence. His friendship was the stepping-stone to higher possi- 
bilities to many of his fellow-men ; his kindly hand was ever held 
out to help those who came to him, but so many times they 
proved to be those who had fawned at fortune's dawn while the 
breezes and the tide wafted steadily on ; but let the tide in the 
affairs of men and politics change, then what ? They would leave 
him to sink or to struggle alone. This the general felt most 
keenly, and it had a greater influence over him in shaking his con- 
fidence in mankind than all things else combined. 

There was a silent sarcasm in an invitation he gave to one of 
these summer friends. The time had been when this man was 
omnipresent in the general's house ; he held a lucrative place 
under the Government and the general's influence had put him 
there. But there came a day when a new king reigned in Israel, 
not of the house of Jacob, and days and months passed ere this 
quondam friend dare make his appearance at Calumet Place. At 
last he ventured; when he arose to take his leave the general 
quietly remarked, " Mr. Blank, call again some dark night." 

Yet the general was the most unsuspicious of men. He would 
never believe in the treachery of a friend until unmistakable evi- 
dence was in his hand ; his fidelity to his friends, his attachment 
to his old associations has made us marvel that any one could 
play him false. 

If he made a friend, it was for all time if he proved himself 
worthy. His local attachments were as strong as his nature. 

After he purchased Calumet Place as a home, his home at the 
Strathmore Arms where he had lived so many years had ties for 
him that never were effaced ; he would often drop in for a short 
rest or chat with some of his old friends, in going to or coming 
from the Capitol. No guest was more welcome ; his friends were 
always glad to grasp the hand of a man they knew well to be so 
true, so noble. The day he was taken ill he made a call at his 
old. home. A peculiar sadness had settled upon him. At last he 
said : " I begin to feel with President Arthur, that if this is all 
there is to live for, if there is no hope of a future life, this life is 
not worth living." The general was rich in friends, those who 



THE STRA THMORE ARMS. 



299 



liked him for what he was. Those who knew him best respected 
him most. Those who had no favors to ask liked him for his 
integrity, his loyalty, his nobleness of soul. There is not a soldier 
who was ever in his command but learned to love his commander. 
More than friends, or home, or life did he love his country. He 
was brave, daring, courageous. He did not know the word fear, 
yet he was tender and considerate of his men. We heard him say 
he never knew what fear was when the battle raged ; but with quiv- 
ering lips, he added, " I never saw a man dead on the battle-field, 
friend or foe, when the conflict was over that tears did not run 
down my cheeks." 

He was charming in conversation, full of anecdote and story 
and interesting reminiscences of the war. 

The country will not forget in the morning of the war, when the 
general was a colonel and was stationed at Cairo with his regi- 
ment. Many of his soldiers were sick. Six hundred of them lay 
ill at one time with the measles and eight had already died. The 
general in his dire distress thought of the wife he had left, and, 
as was his habit in moments of greatest perplexity, turned to her. 
" Mary, my boys are sick and dying for want of care, what can 
you do ? " She took the first train, and found them quartered in 
an old inn, stretched on the floor without a pillow for their heads, 
or a blanket to cover them. She returned and visited every home 
that had sent a boy to the front, and on her way back she had a 
car load, and a bundle marked for every boy, for Jim, for Joe, or 
Dick. Within forty-eight hours the improvised hospital had six 
hundred comfortable cots and every sick boy had a bed. And 
this hospital was known as the "Striped Hospital," from the 
homespun blankets of bright colors made by the wives, mothers 
and sisters of the brave boys that composed the regiment. The 
stock of fruits and delicacies sent by these women was the begin- 
ning of the great sanitary movement in the West. 

It is for what she has done in such emergencies as this, and for 
the help given to the suffering left behind, that she has endeared 
herself to the people and made her name as one with John A. 
Logan's. 

When the night closed down upon his earthly career, when his 
work was finished, for his own, his friends and his country, he left 



300 HISTORIC HOMES IiV WASHINGTON. 

for the first an honored name which is riches indeed, to his 
friends the memory of a pure and good man, but for his country, — 
who has he left to fill his place ? The years will go by, men will 
come and go, but his comrades will say with the Ithacans of old, 
*' Ulysses has gone upon his wanderings and there is none left in 
all Ithaca to bend his bow." 

Here, too, ex-Governor George S. Boutwell lived for several 
years. He was chosen by President Grant to be Secretary of the 
Treasury. He had previously been Commissioner of Internal 
Revenue. When the portfolio of the Treasury came into his 
hands, it also brought with it greater responsibilities than had 
befallen any financial minister, not excepting Alexander Hamil- 
ton: that of reducing the high import and revenue tax, created as 
a war measure, and avoid crippling the national income, for the 
war debt must be reduced and the interest met ; in fact, he was 
expected to find the golden way to national prosperity and to pay 
the country's debts besides. How ably he met the requirements 
reference to the monthly statements will show. Had the reduc- 
tion of revenue taxation gone on in the same ratio up to the 
present time, no cry of an alarming surplus would have been 
heard in the land. 

For some reason, not yet divined, there seems to be but little 
of the spirit of " Civil Service Reform " in the rank and file of 
statesmen. A few of the best years of men's lives are given to 
the country and its needs, and when some great imperilled crisis 
is past, parties without distinction try timber whose strength has 
never been tested and whose power they know naught of ; 
and so Governor Boutwell has the chance of making a lucra- 
tive living in Washington at his profession, the law, with 
the time, now and then, to give to the country some literary 
work for which his ripe scholarship and keen intuition have 
eminently fitted him, while the country is reaching out its feel- 
ers to find others that would serve it as well as has George S, 
Boutwell. 

Another who would equally be numbered in the same category, 
one who was never known to falter when his country called, one 
who stood manfully by the Old Ship of State when she was 
rocked by adverse waters : one who was governor of his state and 



THE STRATHMORE ARMS, 



301 



senator of the United States was the late Rueben E. Fenton, of 
New York. 

Several winters he spent in this house, and the question was 
more than once asked, " How is it that our country can afford to 
lay aside such men, those whose dignity and high-bred courtesy, 
whose knowledge and experience of affairs would do the country 
honor at home and abroad, and whose sound judgment and watch- 
ful vigilance saved us when we were perishing ? " 

The swift current of events will rush on and seemingly cover 
the break when such men drop out, but it is not so ; the lost 
strength of the missing link has yet to be measured. 

The late Senator Hale, of Vermont, was another representative 
man who was at one time a member of this household. Mr. Hale 
took occasion at one time to scathe President Pierce from his 
seat in the Senate, and afterwards attended a levee. As he 
approached President Pierce with a lady on his arm, the President 
received the lady with grace, and then turned his back upon the 
senator. President Pierce was a small man and did not cast 
much of a shadow over the senator ; notwithstanding, it created 
no little amusement among the bystanders. 

Another person who has been a familiar figure in this home 
was the late Judge Thomas Hood. His striking physique, noble 
features, faultless dress, ruffled shirts, spotless broadcloth and 
dignified manner stamped him as a rare specimen of the old- 
school gentleman. He was a man tender of heart and sympa^ 
thetic in his nature, a better friend to the world than to himself, 
a man who never left a duty undone to serve a friend. He was 
often summoned for counsel by his friend, Edwin Stanton, when 
darkness hung over the nation. Manfully would he work to 
see his friends provided for, while he barely got the crumbs 
from the nation's table. 

Who that has heard him recite in his pathetic way, " I have 
Ships at Sea," does not regret that after a life spent in helping 
others, without the talent for making a selfish stroke for himself, 
he could not have lived to see the long-looked-for ship that had 
been sighted, enter port ? His appointment for a judgeship was in 
his hands ; but ere he could qualify, when on the threshold of an 
earthly future, full of hope and honor, he was suddenly called 



302 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

into the mysteries of another world. His genial nature, his bril- 
liant conversation, his retentive memory made him to his friends 
an agreeable companion, and his memory will long be cherished. 

For the past three years the Rev. Dr. Scott and daughter, Mrs. 
Scott Lord, with her daughters, Mrs. Dimmick and Mrs. Lieuten- 
ant Parker, have been familiar figures in this household. When 
the nation called Benjamin Harrison to be its Chief Executive, the 
reflex honor fell upon this family as father, sister and nieces of 
Mrs. Harrison. 

It is as refreshing as it is unusual to see people called into the 
foremost rank of social precedence who preserve the same quiet, 
unaffected spirit, the same genial and warm-hearted manner 
toward everybody. Not by look or deed do they betray any 
change fortune may have brought. And indeed, why should they 
when you realize that for nearly ninety years the venerable head 
of this family has drunk deep from the eternal springs of inspira- 
tion that has moulded a character, that casts a halo over his pres- 
ence, that brings all within his influence to feel that there is no 
sovereign but One ; no crown but the highest which is not in the 
gift of men ? 

To daily watch the tender solicitude of the daughters for 
their father, and the devotion of these sisters to each other, 
confirms the faith that lives that are guided and pervaded 
by the loftiest sense of duty and conscientiousness, can be trusted 
implicitly to carry out all duties our country may impose. 

Many literary people, who belong more or less to the public, 
have at dififerent times found a home under this roof. We remem- 
ber Oliver Johnson and his sweet-faced wife, the daughter of John 
S. C. Abbot. Mr. Johnson's name brings up a multitude of mem- 
ories when his pen was the sword that cut into the " peculiar 
institution." We see arrayed such men as William Lloyd Garri- 
son, Wendell Phillips, Gerrit Smith and a. line of others whose 
sense of right and justice made them strong to do, and bear, and 
sufifer for the right. 

Later came C. C. Coffin, known as ** Carleton," the war corre- 
spondent who never wrote a lie. He, with his wife, were the first 
to make the tour of the world, and it was Mr. Coffin who laid out 
the line of travel for William H. Seward and his party when they 



THE STRA THMORE ARMS. 303 

took the same journey. He has made patriots of all the boys who 
have read his " Boys of '61." 

He is a pleasant-faced, pleasant-voiced, agreeable gentleman, 
and never happier than when relating to others what the great 
world has revealed to him, and he can charmingly crowd his talk 
with the pictures of people he has seen. 

Mr. Coffin brings to mind another versatile genius who has 
walked and talked with the constituents of the literati in this 
house, a man of cultivated literary tastes, a ready contributor and 
charming story writer, Junius Henri Browne, 

And then the genial, whole-souled Bronson Howard, with his 
charming English wife, steps upon the scene. With frankness but 
extreme modesty, he will tell you how characters materialize in 
his brain and take their places in the drama, until some " Henri- 
etta " with acts, and scenes, and setting fair appears. They have 
friends wherever they go. 

Into this home George Kennan brought his intellectual wife as 
a bride. This was after he had written " Tent Life in Siberia," 
but before his later travels, which have made him rich in Sibe- 
rian lore. He has entertained audiences here by the hour, gos- 
siping through the avenues of his experience, many of them 
full of the flowers and the fragrance of a cultivated life. 

Of the newspaper fraternity there might be written a fascinat- 
ing volume. The Washington correspondents, men and women, 
by virtue of their profession, by uprightness and integrity, by 
judicious judgment of opportunities and chances for information 
have the open sesame to all official circles, and the opportunity is 
not limited to make acquaintanceship with people of national 
reputation. Socially they are always welcome in fashionable or 
in home life. 

In the busy life of this fraternity, many have been drawn to- 
gether under this roof. 

We remember Edmund Flemming, now editor of the Buffalo 
Courier ; E. G. Bunnell, of the New York Times; William C. 
McBride, of the Cincinnati Enquirer ; Charles Pepper, of the Chi- 
cago Tribune ; Byron Andrews, of the Inter Ocean and National 
Tribune; Frank G. Carpenter of the Associated Press, formerly 
" Carp " of the Cleveland Leader^ who with their pleasant, intellec- 



304 HISTORIC HOMES IN WASHINGTON. 

tual wives formed a noble representation of the newspaper guild 
of this country, each in his own way exerting a wide and 
telling influence ; which has brought its reward in professional 
preferment and advancement. Add to this number the generous- 
hearted, noble-souled Frank Palmer, now public printer ; and 
another, Miss Jannette Jennings, a correspondent of marked 
ability, a writer who is always welcome, one to whom the doo*"s 
of ofificials are never closed, from the White House to the homes 
of Cabinet ministers, judges of the Supreme Court, senators, 
congressmen and laymen — she is a faithful, conscientious delinea- 
tor of time and its events ; and Harriet Taylor Upton, who is now 
giving to the world through Wide- Awake, " The Children of the 
White House," and a more charming coterie of Knights of the 
Free Lance it would be difficult to find. 

There are those whose winters have waned and summers come 
again within this circle, who have become so much a part of this 
home that it would seem like photographing one's father or 
mother, brother or sister for the public, to give aught of their 
personal life and experience ; those who in no sense, but the 
general one, belong to the public, but have, each in his own way, 
become identified with this home. 

Many of them are scattered over the earth's fair domain. 
Their memories are kindly cherished. These friendships, made 
and welded, will live until the portals of another life open. To 
them for sympathy when difficulties arose, for their encourage- 
ment when obstacles had to be overcome, for their friendship 
which never failed, we owe much for the beginning and carrying 
forward to completion this volume on the 

Historic Homes in Washington. 




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